Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Kingdoms
by Fenikkusumaru
Summary: After what started as a normal class trip, college students Kurogasa Kururugi, Koji Shinamori, and Daigo and Souji Nogano find themselves in a gender–bent Romance of the Three Kingdoms and must save the world from war, Helheim, and a dangerous young man as Kamen Riders! Rated M to be safe.
1. Henshin! The Orange from Heaven?

Hello everyone! This is your buddy Fenikkusumaru here! I'm here to give you another story and it's a crossover story of Koihime Musou and Kamen Rider Gaim! I've seen Kamen Rider Chrome and Ten–Faced Paladin do that crossover, so why not me? However, unlike those two, I'm going to be following the Visual Novel oh and I know it sounds stupid, but the canon characters will have their anime appearances and not the Visual Novel appearances just so you know. Kurogasa Kururugi will be in there and recurring OC Koji Shinamori will appear as well along with two new OC's Serpentdrago made. Their names are Souji and Daigo Nogano, so thanks man.

One more thing: I'm co–writing with Vanishing Raptor on this story who has some knowledge of the Visual Novel to an extent so I got some help there and I thank him for being my coauthor on this. It's a good thing I found him on the Beta profiles, otherwise, I don't think this story will be possible. Anyways, with that being said, let's with the crossover story of Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Kingdoms!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kamen Rider Gaim. All creative rights go to Shotaro Ishinomori. I also do not own Koihime Musou. All creative rights go to BaseSon and Publisher Nexton.

* * *

"EI! HAH! SORYAH!"

The sounds of my two shinai were heard as they cracked and snapped against one of my classmate's one shinai. The crisp sound of shinai clashing filled the dojo as I kept up with the attack as my classmate kept on the defense, doing his best to block my two shinai from hitting him.

I kept up the pace, and eventually cornered him. I thought that would be the end. But just when I went for the kill, he slammed the tip of the shinai into my stomach.

"GAH!" I cringed.

"Point!" The instructor shouted, raising a white flag in the air, indicating that my opponent has taken the win.

After that, we got back into position and bowed to each other before both my sempai and I placed down our shinai and took off our helmets and chest plate. Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself. My name's Kurogasa Kururugi. I'm 19 years old and 2nd year student at St. Francesca Academy, a private college that used to be an all–girls school but now became a co–ed so there are very few males. I have brown hair in the style that one would think I was Kira Yamato and have blue eyes. As for what I'm doing, I just finished kendo training here in the dojo. That would indicate for some of you that I'm part of the kendo club. In fact, I'm one of the very few that can dual wield very well.

"Nice game there, Ryuzoji–sempai!" I complimented.

"Not bad Kururugi. But I gotta ask… why two shinai?" Ryuzoji–sempai questioned.

"Why not?" I grinned back. "It's just my style. It feels weird to wield just one."

He shrugged before walking off, leaving me by my lonesome. I sighed as I walked over to the nearby bench. Man this armor is easy to get warm in!

"Good job you two." The instructor said. "That ends today's practice! Hit the showers and have a good Winter Break!"

Whew… finally, I can get out of this thing. It's making me sweaty…

"Yo Kurogasa!" A voice called out. I turned around to see someone approach me. And that someone happens to be my best friend Koji Shinamori. He was about my age, 19, having brown eyes, being two inches taller than me, and while our hair color was the same, he wore it in a surfer cut.

And though he's my best friend, he has the one thing that I don't have: The ability to woo the girls. Don't get me wrong, I talk with girls, it's just that when it comes to wooing them, I'm never good at it.

Oh yeah… There's one thing also that differentiates us: he absolutely loves disco. I'm not kidding. Everyday going to school, under that St. Francesca school uniform, he always wears something that 70's related, not to mention that he talks 70's talk too. Yeah, he's that far into it. Still, I didn't mind and that's just him.

"Hey Koji." I greeted.

"What's shakin' man? You just finished practice?"

"Yeah, I just finished." I answered. "What's up?"

"I'm here to pick you up."

"Huh? For what?" I asked confused.

"What? You don't remember?" Koji asked back.

"Remember what? Did I plan something with you?"

"Dang straight, you did!" Koji said. "We're supposed to go to that Chinese exhibit they just built on campus and do a report on it for homework on Winter Break!"

"Homework?" I asked confused, until I suddenly remembered. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, _that_ homework." I realized. Now I remember. Our school just built a history museum on campus, so our school board chairman was having all students visit it over the break and write a report on it. I mean sure I don't mind, since history is my forte, but sheesh, why did it have to be on Winter Break of all times.

"Oh, so _now_ you finally remember." Koji rolled his eyes, but kept his smirk.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it." I waved off. "But why do you want to do it now? We got all Winter Break to check out the museum."

"Yeah, I know. But then again, if we finish it now, then we have the entire Winter Break for our Kamen Rider Club." Koji explained.

"You _do_ have a point there." I nodded in agreement.

I forgot to mention that Koji and I are part of a club we set up in the Academy along with two other members. It's the Kamen Rider Club and the club meets every Friday after school to discuss the latest things going on in Kamen Rider and showing off our merchandise and whatnot. But now with Winter Break coming up, we could meet up the whole break.

"Alright, I got ya. Let me get changed up first and we'll go in a few."

"Groovy, I'll see ya in a few." Koji grinned before we bumped fists.

* * *

Now dressed in my St. Francesca Academy uniform, I walked along with Koji, my disco fanatic friend, in the halls as he waved and smiled at the girls they passed. The girls blushed and shyly waved back at them. And I, being the shy one, just blushed as the girls giggled and Koji pulled me into a one–armed buddy hug.

"Man, we really need to work on that shyness of yours, buddy."

I shot my friend an annoyed look. "Why is that? I'm fine with what I am now."

Koji looked at me incredulously. "Dude, what's wrong with you? You should be grateful for being enrolled in here, St. Francesca! There are plenty of girls here! All you have to do is approach a girl, be nice to her, flatter her, then ask for her phone number or e–mail address, and bam! You got yourself a date!"

"Speaking from experience, huh?" I replied as I folded my hands.

"Dang straight I am!" He proclaimed loudly and I sighed.

As said before, St. Francesca was once an all–girl private school until several years ago where they changed their student admission policy and allowed boys to enroll here. Still, the comparison between boys and girls were pretty much imbalanced with the girls vastly outnumbering the boys.

I was suspicious that Koji chose to enroll in St. Francesca because it was probably only because of the girls, aside from the good education it offered, but I could be wrong. Even a class–A Casanova like Otoya Kurenai wasn't that shallow. He just admired their beauty and was able to woo the ladies without trouble. After all, he did end up with a woman who didn't fall to his charms so easily. Maybe Koji was doing the same?

Either way, I was fine with what I am now. I admit it would be nice to get myself a girlfriend, but that can wait. I want to enjoy my youth in my own way. While Koji enjoyed his youth by wooing the girls, I was happy with my Kamen Rider collection. Call me a nerd or anything you want, but that's my hobby.

"Yo! Kuro–kun! Koji–kun!"

Koji and I turned to see our fellow Kamen Rider Club members, the Nogano siblings. One was around 5'7" tall with black hair tied into low ponytail and hazel eyes and is our age. His skin tone was light while his body build was lithe and agile. He was wearing the same uniform as Kurogasa and Koji, but he left it unzipped and showed the black undershirt with the image of a green dragon. The other was much taller, almost 6' tall, 5'11" to be exact, with spiked up black hair and dark hazel eyes which were almost brown. His skin tone was also light like his brother, but his build was more muscular and powerful, but less agile in return. He was wearing his uniform like his brother, but was more neat and crisp with its entire button buttoned and is two years older than us.

They were Daigo Nogano and Souji Nogano. Daigo was the cheerful and carefree one while Souji was the calmer and more serious one. On a side note, Daigo was an avid video gamer while Souji was an ex–member of the Kendo club before he retired so he can focus on the rest of college. Their contrasting personality made me wonder if they were really siblings.

"Daigo, Souji–sempai." I greeted.

"Hello, Kurogasa–kun, Koji–kun." said Souji with an acknowledging nod. "Fancy meeting both of you here. Are you two heading to the museum?"

"That's right, sempai. We're going to go to the museum so we can get the homework finished and have _all_ winter break for our Kamen Rider Club Meeting." answered Koji with a grin.

"Cool! The whole winter break for our club meeting! Now I'm getting psyched!" said Daigo with a grin which he shared with Koji.

"Isn't it?"

"Business before pleasure, right? I certainly agree with that." commented Souji with a nod. "Why don't we all go together? We can compare our notes and we can complete the report faster that way."

"Sure thing, sempai. Let's go."

With that, we group of four left for the museum. As all of us walked, we talked slightly about our long running favorite franchise. Even Souji, who was still somewhat shy admitting that he too was a Kamen Rider fan, joined in and added his two cents. Daigo snickered at his elder brother, commenting about him being a tsundere, before promptly being silenced with a swift chop to the head. Let it be known that Souji was one of the strongest Kendoka of the club before his early retirement and was known as the 'One–handed Souji' with his strength. And his brother often experienced how true the nickname was firsthand.

Ouch.

On the way there, I accidentally hit my shoulder with another student's as he passed through.

"Oh, sorry!"

The student's response was nothing more than an annoyed grunt before he left.

"Man, what's with him? Did he end up on the wrong side of the bed or somethin'?" asked Koji, irked with the student's attitude.

"What a rude fella. Hope never to see him again anytime soon." muttered Daigo.

I, however, let my gaze linger on the student's retreating back and felt uneasy. His body was packed with muscles, more than it supposed to be for someone of his age. Like he was trained to be a martial artist from when he could start walking or went through one heck of a training session. For me who was a fellow martial artist, I was quite unsettled with that student. If there was someone as strong as me, I would know of a fellow martial artist that strong a long time ago.

"Kurogasa–kun? Are you alright?" asked Souji.

Broken from my train of thought, I shook his head and answered Souji saying, "It's nothing, Sempai."

My senior stared at me for a moment before he shrugged and continued to walk, followed by his underclassmen.

"Ne, Kuro–kun." whispered Daigo in my ear. "Are you… going after the other team?"

It took me exactly ten seconds before what Daigo meant dawned on me and I exploded, literally.

"WHAT THE HECK!? HOW DID YOU COME TO _THAT_ CONCLUSION!?"

"Whoa, easy there Kurogasa, what did Daigo say to you?" asked Koji as he tried to calm me down.

"Maa, maa, if you did go for the other team, don't worry! I'll be supporting you no matter what!" said Daigo, trying to show support to my orientation.

It took Koji shorter time to figure what his fellow Kamen Rider enthusiast said before he too, exploded.

"THE HECK, DAIGO!? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR HEAD!?"

I took a deep, deep breath to calm down before I addressed to my somewhat airheaded friend.

"Look, what makes you come to that conclusion? I'm straight as an arrow as far as I can tell with my orientation." my tone showed that I was annoyed.

"Eh? It's because Kuro–kun looked at that guy so intense like that." answered Daigo with a somewhat innocent look.

"Maybe you should stop chopping his head like that, Souji–sempai. Maybe because you always hit him in the head Daigo lost some of his brain cells." remarked Koji dryly.

"Or maybe I should hit him more to jump start his brain." muttered Souji as he looked at his brother who covered his head.

"Oh come on, Aniki! I'm just teasing Kuro–kun for fun! You're joking about hitting me, right?" protested Daigo, but the look on his brother's face said otherwise. "Oh crap. You're serious."

"That I am."

*THWACK!*

It happened so fast that I nearly missed it. By the time it was over Daigo was holding his head which was smoking lightly from the hit while Souji walked away with his hands in his pocket. He called over for me and Koji over his shoulder.

"Kurogasa–kun, Koji–kun, let's hurry. We have a lot of notes to cover today."

Koji and I spared Daigo one last look to Daigo before looking at each other and shrugged. We then followed Souji on his heels while Daigo called to us

"Aniki! Kuro–kun! Koji–kun! Wait for me!"

* * *

The new Chinese exhibit was opened to the students and I was interested to see what they got. I heard there were artifacts dating all the way back to the Han Dynasty.

I think one of my favorite eras was the era of the Three Kingdoms. I read about it in history class and I couldn't help but admire the figures in that particular era who, fought to unify China under their banner for their own ambitions. Some did it out of pride while others did it to bring peace. It was the kind of story to be inspired from.

Well, other than Kamen Rider.

The latest one was Kamen Rider Gaim and I couldn't help but see some similarities. They had different factions as well. Sure, it was Sengoku–themed but there were some similarities.

"Dyn–o–mite, look at all this stuff." Koji whistled, looking around. "I'm impressed they managed to get this place made in a short amount of time."

"Yeah, no kidding. Not to mention that all these artifacts are actually the real thing." I added.

"I want to see if there's something on Sousou. I heard he was hardcore." said Koji.

"Hardcore, how exactly?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously honored as "Emperor Wu of Wei". He's also been praised as a brilliant ruler and military genius."

"Geez, you're supposed to be expert since history's your forte. Especially since the museum houses artifacts from the late Han Dynasty during the Romance of the Three Kingdoms era." Daigo chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever." I waved off. "Anyways, we better get to note taking and finish this quick so we can get to our Kamen Rider Club after."

So we all took notes of the items displayed in the exhibition, including the Green Dragon Crescent Blade owned by the Undefeated War God Kan'u Unchou, Chouhi Yokutoku's Viper Spear, and not to mention the infamous traitorous general Ryofu Housen's Heaven Piercer. Being a history fanatic, took a detailed note of the weapons and its user's history. They also saw other exhibits which were a chained flail which looked like a Kendama with massive spiked iron ball, a giant clay pot, and a set of colorful butterfly masks.

Daigo, being Daigo, pointed out the most random things about the items.

"Oh, look at that chain flail! Someone who used it must be a moe! And look at the giant clay pot! It must be used to store menma! And they even have Kamen Riders too in the Three Kingdoms Era! Just look at those butterfly masks!"

"Oh, for the love of…! Quit it, will ya!? How come you get to that kind of conclusion? Again…" asked Koji.

"Because I'm that creative!" admitted Daigo shamelessly with a grin before he frowned slightly. "And I'm bored. Are we done yet, aniki?"

"We even haven't covered the half of the exhibit. We still have a long way to go." answered Souji.

Daigo pouted, yes he pouted, before turning to Kurogasa. "Ne, Kuro–kun. Can I borrow your notes for the report?"

"Not a chance…" I answered without looking at him as I took notes from Ryuubi's sword.

"It's not like I'm going to copy them all, you know!"

I ignored him as I went to move on and look at all the other exhibited items when he I something, or rather, someone particular. It was the student from the earlier. Come to think of it, I never took a good look on him. He had pale brown hair and purple eyes. His stature was athletic, and guarded even if he looked relaxed enough. He was standing in front of a display case which had a bronze mirror inside.

"It's the guy from the earlier…" I commented.

Koji turned to look at the guy and frowned. "You're right, aibou. What's he doing here?"

"Dunno, but have any of you seen this guy before?"

Daigo was about to crack a joke about Kurogasa's orientation before a look from Souji quieted him.

"I don't think I've seen him before." answered Souji.

"Hmm… come to think of it, I've not seen him anywhere either. Maybe he's a student from lower year or something?" added Daigo as he scratched his chin.

"Maybe… Or he's a transfer student we've never seen before." said Koji.

I frowned at that. "It's weird… I should've known someone as strong as him a long time ago."

Koji and Daigo turned to look at me in confusion.

"Huh? How can you tell that, aibou?"

"Did you get a scouter on your eyes or something?"

"A good martial artist knows of another by seeing how another person's posture." answered Souji as he scrutinized the mysterious student. "Now I understand why Kurogasa–kun is wary of him. He is strong, _too_ strong for a normal high school student."

"That's right. He's also more muscular than a teenager _should_ be." I nodded. "His stance also didn't show any opening even when he was relaxed like that."

The four of us discreetly continued watching the teen as he stared hard at the bronze mirror. His eyes were hard and cold. He looked like that then and there, he wanted to just break the glass and take that mirror from the display. And I could've sworn I heard something from that guy too.

"Here… it begins…" The male student said cryptically.

"Huh?" I asked confused, not liking the way he said it. "Souji–sempai, did you hear that?"

"Yeah, I did." Souji frowned. "Something's up…"

"What?" Daigo asked. "What? What? What?"

"I don't know. I just get this bad feeling about that guy."

"Like, a bad, bad vibe?" asked Koji.

"We should keep an eye for him for a while. I seriously don't like how much he paid attention to that mirror." said Souji.

"Uh, Aniki? What are you talking about?" asked Daigo, looking lost.

I said my next words lowly so the 'student' won't hear me speaking, "I think that guy isn't a student. Maybe he only disguised as a student so he can do whatever he planned easier." Koji looked alarmed with my statement before his expression become serious.

"So… this guy's a thief?"

"Probably. We shouldn't do anything to set him off," answered Souji.

Daigo looked confused by his brother's words. "Uh, shouldn't we call for the security?"

I shook my head. "Too risky. For all we know, the security guards won't be enough to stop him, not if he was really that strong."

"Kurogasa–kun is right. For now, let's act like nothing happened and keep on taking notes." suggested Souji.

Koji nodded at his sempai's assessment before glancing one last time at the suspected thief. "Looks like that guy isn't in a hurry either. He probably will wait until the museum closed before he acted."

"So we should leave him alone for now?" said Daigo.

"It's for the best. Come on, we still have some work to do," I said.

"Right." Koji nodded.

"Okie dokie." Daigo agreed.

So with that, the four of us left the 'student' alone so we could continue working on our notes and getting everything done for our report so we don't have to do it during the whole Winter Break. I don't know what that guy is up to, but whatever it is, he's not gonna get away with it.

* * *

So after taking all our notes, we left the museum and went back to our dorms and we compared with what we have, then after that, we helped each other write our own reports, specifically on the three factions that ruled during the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I took Shǔ (Shoku), Daigo and Souji had Wú (Go), and Koji had Wèi (Gi).

I looked at the clock and it was 19:00, the time when the school museum was supposed to be closed for the day. My uneasiness doubled when I realized that guy was probably still there; ready to carry out his plan in any moment now. I sighed loudly, catching the attention of my friends.

"Kuro–kun? What's wrong?" asked Daigo.

"That guy is probably still there, isn't he?" I said.

"Perhaps." Souji frowned. "Does it unsettle you, Kurogasa–kun?"

"Somewhat. I hoped it's just my paranoia speaking, but…"

Silence reigned in the Dorm room before Koji broke it. "Why don't we go for a little stake out?" The Nogano brothers looked at him in surprise before I mulled it over.

"Hmm… I agree with Koji. If he's really a thief, then we should stop him before he gets away."

"Same here. All of us are trained in martial arts and we can give him a hard time if he decided to fight," added Souji with a nod.

That was true. Souji and I were quite the Kendoka ourselves while Koji is a black belt Karateka and Daigo is a Kenpo expert. With our next action decided, the four of us prepared ourselves to stop the thief. We agreed to do our stake out near St. Francesca main lane.

* * *

So with that, I and Souji both got our bokken, two of them for me since I'm dual wielding and him only having one. After that, we met up with Koji and Daigo at the main lane.

"Looks like this is everyone." Koji said.

"Yeah and… Daigo, what's in the duffel bag?" I asked.

"Our Sengoku Drivers, Lockseeds, and the rest of our Gaim merchandise." Daigo said.

I face faulted at that. "Why did ya bring them?!"

"Dunno? I just brought them with me."

My palm smacked right into my face before looking at my airheaded friend exasperatedly. "They're toys, _toys_, remember? It's not like we can actually use them for real!"

Daigo was about to say something when Souji noticed something. "Quiet! We have someone incoming. Take your places and if it's really our suspect, then block his escape path!"

We all nodded as we hid behind the bush. We waited for several seconds and it was really our thief. Pocketed in his blazer was a familiar bronze mirror from the museum. With a moment's nod, the four of us sprang away and blocked the thief's path.

"Hold it right there!" I shouted.

"Where do ya think you're going?!" Koji added.

"Yeah, what's your deal?!" Daigo said.

"And what's that in your pocket?" Souji asked.

The teen only glared at us in annoyance and disdain. I just really can't believe it. My worst fears have become reality. I knew there was something fishy about this guy!

"Who are you all? And what do you want?" The 'student' asked.

"That's what we should be asking _you_!" I snapped. "I knew there was something fishy about you! I bet you don't even go to this school!"

"So what?" The 'student' scoffed.

"Don't play dumb with us!" Koji snapped too.

"Your disguise is good, I admit, but you made a mistake." said Souji calmly as he held his shinai in his usual kendo stance. "St. Francesca never has many male students and a stranger like you stands out so much."

"…And your point is?" asked the teen in visible annoyance.

"Our point is, Mr. Thief, you shouldn't take something that isn't yours!" snapped Daigo.

The teen then glared at every one of us, before he said, "So all of you intend to get in my way?"

"Yeah, we are!" I retorted.

Suddenly the air around the thief changed. It was as if a snake was uncoiled and ready to strike in any moment. We all sweated as apparently our enemy is a lot stronger and deadlier than what we predicted.

"In that case… die."

"N–Nani?!" I gasped, gritting my teeth.

*SWOOSH! WHOOSH! SWOOSH!*

The guy first charged at me and did a series of kicks at me. Lucky for me, I was able to dodge or parry as I jumped back to gain distance.

"Hah, hah, hah, hah…" I panted heavily. I was panting like I'd run a mile nonstop. This guy was on a whole different level.

"Tsk…" the 'student' scoffed.

"Kurogasa! Are you okay, buddy!?" asked Koji, also shaken by the teen's apparent strength.

"I'm fine! Be careful, this guy is on a whole different level!"

"Let's see how you'd like this! HAAAAAH!"

Daigo charged in with rain of punches and kicks and the mysterious teen dodged around and went for retaliation with a series of roundhouse kicks which he ducked. Koji then joined in with a swift low coming uppercut, trying to nail the thief. He deflected the attack by slapping the offending hand away, but Daigo already came in with a kick which he blocked with his forearm. The teen's purple eyes widened upon feeling the strength behind the attack.

"Not bad…" growled the teen.

"Hehe, trust me. You ain't seeing anything yet!" said Daigo as he broke away, letting Souji and I attack.

"HAAAAAH!" Souji and I attacked with a loud battle cry. Our styles were contrasting to each other. Where I relied more in speed, Souji relied more in power.

The thief dodged my fast paced swings and Souji's more powerful one. One of my shinai went in for a thrust which the thief slapped away and had to block the other with his forearm. He broke away from me to dodge Souji's two–handed overhead slash. His eyes narrowed hearing the air displaced because of Souji's slash, showing how powerful it was. Koji followed up with a quick series of jabs which the thief dodged or blocked before he retaliated with a straight kick, aiming for Koji's liver. But the disco fanatic was faster and blocked the kick by crossing his arms. He yelped as he was pushed backward and felt his arm numbed slightly.

"Koji! Are you okay?!" I called out as Daigo went in with flurry of kicks aimed at the thief's head.

"I'm fine!" replied Koji with a grunt. "This guy hits harder than my dad in our sparring matches! Be careful!"

The mysterious teen back flipped several times to break away from Daigo's attack. He landed gracefully in his feet and settled into a modified Kenpo stance as he glared at the Kurogasa and his friends.

"Why do you insist interfering with me? Step away. This doesn't concern you."

"Oh it does now!" I snapped.

"You stole something that doesn't belong to you!" Daigo added.

"We're just trying to take that mirror back from your grubby little hands!" Souji said.

"We're gonna beat you and take you to the police!" Koji said.

"Hmph… so you insist on standing in my way." The mysterious teen said. "Fine then… I'll kill _all_ of you. Without the key to open the door, history will never be rewritten and all shall end here."

"What? Rewriting history?" Souji gasped, unnerved by his claim. Who _is_ this guy?

"What are you talking about?!" I frowned, demanding an answer.

"No more talk." he said as his killer intent spiked dangerously. "…DIE!"

He rushed at me, surprising me with the increased speed. I was having a hard time dodging the thief's furious kicks, all aimed at my vital spots. This guy really wanted to kill me. The killing intent was like Orochimaru's when Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura first met him: Purely raw and unfiltered. Souji rushed to help me, his shinai held to his side and once he reached his range, he slashed his shinai with all the strength he could muster. The thief dodged the slash and broke away from me in return, but he had to block Koji's haymaker before he disengaged from him. Daigo came in with a fierce roundhouse kick followed by a yell which the thief blocked with gritted teeth. He retaliated with a snap kick which Daigo dodged, but he wasn't aware that I sneaked behind him swiftly.

"Got you!" I shouted and swung the shinai on his right hand.

The thief reacted too slow and was hit on the face. However, the stolen mirror flew from his pocket thanks to the attack.

"Mazui! The mirror!" said Souji before he rushed to catch the mirror.

"Oh man! Not so groovy!" yelped Koji as he too, wanting to catch the mirror.

"Kuro–kun no baka! If the mirror breaks, I'm _so_ going to tell the dean!" said Daigo.

"Does it really matter now!? Catch that mirror!" I yelled as I pursued the soaring mirror.

"I don't think so!" The mysterious teen shouted as all five of us went to try and capture the mirror, but it was all in vain as the mirror landed on the ground, next to the duffle bag that held our Gaim merchandise and the mirror shattered to pieces.

"Oh no!" I cried out as the five of us stopped.

"The mirror broke!" Koji added.

"You're so in big trouble Kuro–kun!" Daigo complained.

"Shut it Daigo!" Souji snapped.

"NO! How _dare_ you do this to me!" The mysterious teen shouted before he charged at me before-

*POW!*

He hit me square on the stomach, causing me to widen my eyes while I coughed out blood.

"KUROGASA/KUROGASA–KUN/KURO–KUN!"

I tried to hold onto my consciousness as the mirror fragments emitted bright light that blinded everyone.

"W–Whoa! What happened!?" yelled Koji.

"Is it supposed to _do_ that!?" asked Daigo as he tried to cover his eyes.

"What's going on here!?" demanded Souji.

My consciousness was fading, but I heard the thief's voice echoing.

"Now it happens again… No one can stop it now! The stage has been set and the wheel has moved into motion! Now witness the truth of this world with your very eyes! That is your punishment… for your thoughtless intervention!"

"W–What do you mean!?" I coughed out, but as I was losing consciousness, whiteness engulfed me. Not only that, the whiteness of the light engulfed my friends too along with everything in sight, heck including our Gaim stuff too. After a while, I couldn't take it more and lost consciousness.

* * *

**(Cue Theme Howling Soul by Rekka Katakiri)**

**(First Instrumental Section)** We see black and white flashes of a few of the girls before freezing on Kurogasa in full color, standing back to back with Gaim. Then a few more black and white flashes of the girls appearing before coming to a full color image of Koji, smirking coolly with several of his harem girls surrounding him as Baron is off to the side. The last few black and white flashes then occur as we see Souji and Daigo stand back to back, Souji looking serious and Daigo upbeat as Zangetsu and Ryugen stand by them.

**(Second Instrumental Section)** the title logo for "Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Kingdoms" appears in front of the palace before it slowly fades to change scenes. The scene changes to Kurogasa as Gaim leading the Shu forces in battle. Then, the scene changes to Koji as Baron, attacking a group of Inves with the Gi forces. Lastly, the scene changes to Daigo and Souji as Ryugen and Zangetsu, protecting the Go forces.

**(Tsumetai genjitsu nageki kodoku ni karada furuwasu) **The scene changes to a destroyed village as rain poured down. Kurogasa was sitting with his back on a destroyed wall, looking down on the ground sadly. His eyes then shifted to the Orange Lockseed in his hand, and clenched it tightly before looking up at the cloudy sky.  
**(Koko kara nigedashitai kedo sukoshi mo ugokazu ni ita)** Koji is then seen on a balcony, leaning against the railing, looking out into the night with a deep, thoughtful look on his face. He looks down briefly at the Banana Lockseed in his hand. Taking a deep breath, he turns back into the building.

**(Uzumaku sabishisa kanji kuchibiru tsuyoku kamishimeru)** In the palace courtyard, Daigo is sitting on the tree, leaning his back against the huge trunk looking bored as he looked at his Budou Lockseed while his Souji was sitting down on a chair, reading a scroll before looked up at the sky then looked back down at the table where his Melon Lockseed was.  
**(Kuyashinamida nagasu mae ni yuuki furishibori onore tsuranuke)** Suddenly, the scene changes to a town that seemed to have started to be overtaken by Helheim. As Inves surround them, Kurogasa, Koji, Daigo, and Souji nod to each other as they put on their Sengoku Drivers. Locking on their Lockseeds, they transform into Kamen Riders Gaim, Baron, Ryugen, and Zangetsu.

**(Atsuku tagiru tamashii otakebi to tomo ni tokihanate)** In the following shot, as the Kamen Riders battle against the Inves, the women prove their martial might in the fight by taking on the Inves as well, different shots showing them each in action.  
**(Kimerareta RUURU wo uchikowashite)** As the fighting continued, in the distance Kurogasa sees Saji, the man who had started it all and sent him and his friends to the Three Kingdoms world and he immediately charges at him.  
**(Kakenukero jiyuu e to)** Saji smirked evilly as he takes out his own Sengoku Driver. His Lockseed, however, is obscured because as he activates it, a flash of light overtakes the screen, making it unclear which Rider he becomes or if Kurogasa hits him.

**(Instrumental)** Kurogasa, Koji, Daigo, and Souji are seen with their armies, sitting in yukata's of the color scheme of their Rider, holding up their Lockseeds. The Musou women stand behind them at the ready with their weapons out as the title logo appears again.

* * *

Chapter 1: Henshin! The Orange from Heaven?!

Pain…

It was the first thing I felt as consciousness slowly returned to me.

"Urgh… what hit me?"

I then realized two things as my cognitive mind worked through the pain and hazy consciousness. One: I wasn't at my dorm, if the blue sky above was any indication. Two: I wasn't anywhere close to St. Francesca or Japan anymore, if those mountain ridges in the distance showed him where I was right now. In fact, they reminded me of the painting of ancient China my grandfather had!

"W–What happened here!?" he asked frantically as my mind caught up with the situation on hand. I tried to calm myself down as I recalled what happened before I lost consciousness. "Let's see… I was working the Winter Break homework with Koji, Daigo, and Souji–sempai. Then we tried to ambush the thief, fought with him and…"

My eyes widened as I remembered one fact.

"The mirror! It broke during the fight and then glowed with that weird light!"

I really didn't know what happened during the period I was unconscious, but apparently that light transported me to somewhere else. And all my friends are gone too.

"Man, oh man, looks like I _am_ in trouble."

I then noticed objects lying on the ground nearby. A Sengoku Driver, four standard Lockseeds, and an inactive LockVehicle Seed.

"How did they end up here? I thought they were in the duffle bag Daigo carried when we were about to ambush that thief."

I then examined the items and found something odd about them. One was the Sengoku Driver. It felt like it was made of real metal instead of hard plastic. The switch to turn the Driver was curiously absent. The back surface of the Driver also changed. It was a smooth, blank surface without the battery lid, the speaker, and the screws which held the toy together. I also noted that the Rider indicator was blank, not showing the image of the Rider it transformed the user into.

"Huh? What happened to the Sengoku Driver?" I asked to no one in particular before checking on the Lockseeds.

The first Lockseed I checked was the Orange Lockseed. It felt like metal instead of hard plastic and the Orange part also can't be opened so easily like it used to be. While I was curious about what would happen when I unlock the Lockseed, something told me to _not_ do that without wearing the Sengoku Driver.

On a side note, the belt which came with the Sengoku Driver is suspiciously absent too.

I frowned in confusion before checking the other Lockseeds. The Pine, Ichigo, and Suika Lockseeds were changed too, somewhat like the Orange Lockseed.

"Man, first the mirror broke, then, I'm in the middle of nowhere, and my stuff changed too! Can't this day get any weirder?!" I complained.

I then managed to sit upright and tried to get up and stand but then cringed in pain, coming from my stomach. "Ergh…!" I winced, closing one eye as I clenched my teeth. I remember now. The mysterious guy punched me good in the stomach. "Where is that guy anyway?" I wondered to myself as I looked around, but he was nowhere in sight. Well, wherever he is, I have a feeling I haven't seen the last of him. Sooner or later, I'm gonna meet him again.

So with that, I managed to grab my Sengoku Driver, placing the Driver inside my school uniform jacket and grabbed the Orange, Pine and Suika Lockseeds and LockVehicle Seed to put in my pocket. However, when I was about to grab my Ichigo Lockseed…

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" A voice asked. I looked up to see several men wearing yellow bandanas on their heads with yellow handkerchiefs tied around their necks, blue sleeveless shirts, brown waist belts around their waists held together by a blue cord and brown pants and sandals. They were all armed with weapons from ancient China and none of them had nice looks. There were three guys in total. One was short and had a big nose, the second was tall and really overweight, and the third of the bunch had a mustache and a cleft chin.

"Um…" I got out, trying to assess the situation.

"Hey pal those are some nice clothes you got…" The one with the cleft chin said menacingly.

"Uh… thanks?" I blinked.

"It's best that you leave everything right here." He said, before… pointing his sword at my throat. "You don't want to die yet do you?"

My eyes widened in fear. I felt the faint sound of the tip of the blade, cutting a small cut into my skin and the warm liquid that was blood, slowly trickled down my neck.

"Keh–keh–keh, look how pale he is! What a wimp!" the midget snickered.

"Geh–heh–heh…" The tall fat guy chortled too.

"Gh!" I winced as I gritted my teeth, staring at the three men that would possibly kill me.

"Oh? You still got the guts to glare at me huh? Well, resist if you want, killing an unarmed man will only take a second."

"Hey boss, look at this!" the midget said, picking my Ichigo Lockseed. "What's this thing?"

"Hey give it back! That's mine!" I shouted.

"Heh! Too bad! It's ours now!" said the bandit leader as he pushed me.

"Oof!" I was pushed back to the dirt, and Sengoku Driver clattered to the ground as result. Fortunately the bandits was too focused on the the Ichigo Lockseed. I sat up with my left hand reaching to the Sengoku Driver unconsciously. "What's the deal with you people!?"

"I'm sure we can sell this thing for quite a price!" said the short bandit gleefully.

"I'm sure!" replied the boss bandit before turning to me, and pointing his sword to him. "Alright, strip down your clothes and hand over your belongings!"

"You're bandits!?" I asked in shock.

"Hehehe… what's your first clue, pal? Now hand 'em over!"

I was trying to stand up, unconsciously bringing my Sengoku Driver to my waist. I was surprised to feel something wrap around my waist. I looked down to see my Sengoku Driver now strapped to my waist by a yellow belt. An image of an armored blue helmet with a golden head crest, and a rainbow hued visor, and silver mouth plate appeared on the blank Rider Indicator.

My mind went for miles as the implication hit me like a freight train, no matter how implausible it sounded. Now I had to get that Ichigo Lockseed before anything else happened!

"Hooo… that's a cool belt you have there. Hand it over too!" said the bandit leader.

The midget fiddled with the Lockseed and then clicked the release switch on the side. First, this caused the Lockseed to unlock. But then something else happened as a result. A silver zipper appeared in midair and pulled itself down to reveal an almost misty, alien forest. Then, something leapt out of the portal and landed in front of us.

I think I almost screamed in fright at it.

It was an Inves. A Shika Inves to be exact. The Shika Inves had a mostly blue body with bronze leg armor and bronze layered armor on its shoulders. From its back and head emerged antlers which looked a little like flames starting out blue and going to orange. The face was kind of plain with only bronze plating and blue lines for eyes. Hold on… NO WAY! HELHEIM FOREST IS REAL HERE?!

The bandits shrieked in fright when they saw the Shika Inves, and the small bandit dropped the Ichigo Lockseed in the process. Too bad the bandits were too greedy for their own good. They shouldn't have toyed with things they never saw before unless it will bite them back in the behind.

I didn't know whether I should be relieved or panicking when the Ichigo Lockseed was dropped to the ground. On one hand, the Shika Inves will definitely attack anyone nearby and considering it was closer to the bandits, it attacked them first giving me a chance to escape. But when it was done with them, it would eat the Ichigo Lockseed and became a Berserk state. Goodness knows what would happen if a Berserk Inves roamed around.

Oh, boy. As much as I wanted to let the bandits get their due and no doubt they would turn at me after I rescued them, I couldn't let them become infected with the Helheim disease and become Inves food. There were certainly better ways to be killed and becoming a food for Kaijin wasn't on the list.

I watched warily as the Shika Inves attacked the bandits. They were futilely trying to fend it off and their swords were broken as it made contact with the Inves' reinforced skin.

"AHHHHHHHH! WE–WE CAN'T BEAT THIS THING!" The leader shouted in fear.

"RUN AWAY!" The tall fat bandit yelled. And with that, the three of them dashed away with a trail of smoke in their wake, very fast. Seeing that it can't run after them, the Shika Inves turned… to me. Crap… I still can't really move because of my injury.

"Halt!"

I turned to see a girl running to my direction and stopped next to me. I blushed when I saw her. She was beautiful, definitely so. Her hair was black and long, tied into a ponytail on the left side of her head with golden bangles and a pink ribbon while her bangs pulled over on the right side of her head with her forelocks framing her eyes. Her eyes were amber and her skin was light. She was wearing a sleeveless, pinstriped white shirt with green collars, a purple–and–white necktie, and a black skirt. To compliment her appearance, she was wearing a yellow–trimmed green corset which split into long tails on the end, white and green detached sleeves with yellow trims, brown legging that reached into her mid–thighs, and sturdy brown loafers. She was holding a pole–arm weapon, a halberd, topped with a green dragon head which had a curved blade coming out from the mouth. Just below the dragon head, a pair of pink tassels was wrapped around the shaft.

On a side note, her… assets were pretty big despite her age, which was around maybe a year younger if I had to guess. I blushed profusely and held back a nosebleed when I noticed that little detail. Dang you, Koji!

"I don't know what kind of beast you are, but I won't let you to harm this man!" she declared as she held her weapon ready.

"W–Wait! You can't beat that Inves alone!" I tried to stop her.

"Inves? Is that what this beast called?" asked the girl as she glanced at me before focusing at the Shika Inves. "Do not fear, My Lord. I, Kan'u Unchou, and my Green Dragon Crescent Blade shall not be defeated by this beast!"

I blinked at her. Wait, did she just call herself Kan'u Unchou? And did she call me 'My Lord'?

"Haaaah!" the girl called Kan'u dashed forward, swinging her weapon at the Inves who blocked it.

She then swiftly swung her halberd again, but the Shika Inves dodged her attack and retaliated with its fist. Kan'u blocked the attack with the shaft of her weapon as she gritted her teeth, feeling the strength behind its attack. She broke off from the Inves by jumping backwards to gain some distance and attacked again. The Inves roared and met her challenge head on.

I watched as Kan'u(?) battle with the Inves. It was obvious she was skilled, but the Inves was much stronger than her. At this rate, she was going to lose and there was no way I would let her fight alone like that. But right now, I felt helpless. I wanted to help, but I couldn't. I'm defenseless. "What do I do? What do I do?!" I gritted.

"Embrace the new path destiny has unveiled for you…" a girl's voice echoed. I gasped and my eyes widened when I looked around somewhat wildly.

Everything else around me, including the battle between Kan'u and the Shika Inves, seemed to slow, almost freezing in time. Then, walking out to me was the Mysterious Girl from Kamen Rider Gaim, a beautiful young woman wearing a white tunic which exposed her shoulders and white pants with dark leather boots. Her hair was blonde but not unnaturally and she had heterochromatic eyes, one brown and one red.

"You're–!"

"Your fate stands at a crossroads, and it shall be your choice which way you shall go. The power will be yours." She said, as she slowly walked closer towards me. "However, once you use it, your fate is sealed and there will be no turning back. You will have to fight until the bitter end… until the world is dyed in your image."

"I…" I got out.

"The choice is yours. Do you possess that resolve? Will you run from your path? Will you face your fate or forever flee from it?" The Mysterious Girl asked rhetorically.

"I…"

I looked at Kan'u and the Shika Inves. She was risking herself for me. And I'm gonna repay her back by helping her out. I was going to help her, my injuries be damned. Turning back to the Mysterious Girl, I nodded with determined fire in my eyes as I replied, "I'll do it! I accept this power!"

With a nod, the Mysterious Girl was gone and time returned to normal. Reaching for my pocket, I pulled out the Orange Lockseed. I took a deep breath and called out to the Shika Inves, "Hey ugly!" My shout caught the attention of the Inves and Kan'u who broke off from their stalemate. "You're aiming at me, right?! Then come and get me!"

"My Lord!? What are you saying!?" asked Kan'u in surprise.

"I'm not going to let you get hurt because of my fumbles. Just sit back and watch me beat this Inves!" I declared as I held the Orange Lockseed parallel to my face. Time to see if it's the real deal! I flipped the switch sideways to unlock the Orange Lockseed and shouted, "Henshin!"

**ORANGE!**

I gasped and my eyes were wide open when I looked up and saw the very fabric of space opened up by a zipper in a circle and a huge orange fruit hovered in the air. But rather than the citrus fruit itself, it was a metal sphere painted orange with metal studs on the surface.

This is really happening!

Doing it quickly, I looked back at the Inves and Kan'u and placed the Lockseed into Drive Bay then closed the lock to secure it into the Lock On Arm.

**LOCK ON!**

What happened next was that I heard the horn–like noise; the kind Japanese warlords would've sounded in battles during the Sengoku Era, but sounds techno at the same time. After that, I pressed down the Cutting Blade to slice open the Lockseed. Inside was the image of the orange's inside while at the bottom was a picture of an orange slice styled sword.

**SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS! HANAMICHI ON STAGE!**

At that point, the metal orange drop and landed on my shoulders, engulfing my head. I felt my body ripple and the energy wrapped around my whole body into the suit I knew I would don. After that, my head was covered too. Knowing it by heart, it was a blue helmet with a silver mouth guard, and a sword–like decoration on the forehead. There was also an extra decoration on the helmet made of the studded orange steel and the visor was orange, looking like an orange slice.

The orange then sparked and began to disassemble, the sides folding in half to form the shoulder pads, the chest plate with a black line on top, and leaning on my back was the top of the orange with the silver inside facing out. I looked down and saw the suit on me. I was in a dark blue bodysuit which had quilted leather. On my arms and legs were golden bracers and leg coverings which added extra protection.

Appearing in my hand was a short scimitar which was orange and styled after an orange slice. On my side was a black sword with a gold line on the blade with a trigger under the sword guard and the cross–like guard looked like it actually doubled as a gun.

I became Kamen Rider Gaim!

I resisted the urge to jump around like a fan boy and instead focused on the task on hand. I can do that later when the Inves was destroyed.

Kan'u was struck speechless at my transformation. Who didn't? An Orange from the sky transformed me into an armored warrior.

"Alright, let's get going!" I surged forward with Daidaimaru, the orange slice–like blade, held ready.

The Inves roared and met my challenge head on. Thanks to the boost provided by my armor and coupled with the adrenaline rush, I didn't feel pain from my injuries. I struck fast with Daidaimaru, faster than the Inves could react, as sparks flew from its chest as my blade made contact. It stumbled and I pushed on with more slashes before a powerful overhead slash sent the Shika Inves rolling on the ground.

I switched Daidaimaru to my left hand and pulled out the Musou Saber. I pulled the Pallet Slide as a part of my blade glowed, activating its shooting function. I took careful aim before I pulled the trigger. Energy bullets flew from the muzzle and struck at the recovering Inves as I emptied my gun before I reloaded it.

"Haaaah!" I strode forward and struck the Inves with the Musou Saber before following up with my Daidaimaru.

The Shika Inves reeled in pain, but it quickly recovered and tried to attack me with its claws. I blocked it with my Musou Saber and slashed its chest with Daidaimaru before I slashed diagonally upward with the Musou Saber before slashing it horizontally. As the Inves stumbled back, I mustered all of my strength as I slashed the Inves with both of my weapons crossed.

As the Inves fell to the ground and rolled away, I decided to finish this battle before the Inves noticed the Ichigo Lockseed and ate it.

I knew what I had to do. I tossed away my weapons, reached for the Sengoku Driver, and sliced the Lockseed once with the Cutting Blade.

**SOIYA! ORANGE SQUASH!**

Rows of orange slices made from energy projected between me and the Inves before I jumped and back flipped on the apex of my jump and extended my right leg while tucking the other. I felt as if I was pushed forward by some mysterious force as I yelled, "SEE–YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

I went through the projections of orange slices and was covered by a fiery orange aura that got larger as I passed through each slice and kicked the Inves away. I landed on the ground kneeling and watched as the Inves soared in the air covered by the orange aura before it exploded and saw orange slices made from energy spread out in all directions.

I panted lightly as the embers from the explosion died away before I slowly stood up. _'THAT WAS SO AWESOME!'_ I shouted to myself in thought. It was real! I really transformed into Gaim and fought that Inves! I even finished the battle with a Rider Kick! Maybe this won't be a bad thing after all…

"Oh, right! The Lockseed!" I said before I looked around for my Ichigo Lockseed that short bandit fiddled with. I needed to close it before more Inves crossed over because I felt my injuries were catching up now that the adrenaline was starting to flush away. I found it lying on the ground innocently. Geez, who knew a small thing like this was an instrument that can cause the end of the world as we know it?

I picked the Ichigo Lockseed and locked it, closing the portal to Helheim Forest. Then I turned to see Kan'u who was staring at me in speechless awe. Now that I got a good look at her, she really looked beautiful with that lustrous black hair, sparkling amber eyes, porcelain white skin, and big bust– Gah! What am I thinking!? Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts! Don't think of bad thoughts!

"Are you alright?" I asked as I tried to derail my bad thoughts. The question seemed to break Kan'u from her stupor before she answered me.

"Y–Yes, I am unharmed. Thank you for your concern."

"That Inves didn't land a hit on you did it?" My concern wasn't unfounded. I knew a single touch from an Inves meant a slow and painful death with Helheim vegetation growing from the wound, turning their victim into a living tree for Lockseed Fruits.

I shuddered at the thought and I got that nightmare after seeing that episode.

"No, that creature didn't injure me." Kan'u shook her head.

"That's good to hear…" I sighed before I closed my Orange Lockseed and my armor glowed before disappearing into motes of orange light, changing me back to civilian form. As soon as that happened, the adrenaline completely left and the pain from my injuries came back to me. "Ergh!" I suddenly cried out, gritting my teeth while closing one eye, kneeling on one knee while I held my stomach, cringing in pain before I began to fall over until Kan'u caught me.

"My Lord, are you okay?!" Kan'u asked frantically.

"Not exactly…" I got out, before I chuckled weakly saying, "I'm sorry… but I need to pass out for a while…"

And with that, the darkness embraced me.

* * *

The first thing I felt as my consciousness slowly returned to me was my head resting on something soft and a wonderful scent. My eyes slowly opened and saw a blurry image that quickly focused into Kan'u's worried face with a slight blush on her cheeks before a radiant smile bloomed on her face.

"My Lord! You're awake!"

My eyes widened as my somewhat still jumbled mind quickly connected the dots. The soft thing my head rested on, that wonderful scent and her face which looked so close…

C–Could this be… the legendary lap pillow!?

"U–Uwaaaaaahhhh!?"

I scrambled away at Kan'u who looked at me surprise and I could feel heat was rushing to my face. Oh man Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man, Oh man! Did it really happen to me!? She, the girl who claimed to be Kan'u Unchou, gave me a lap pillow!?

"U–Um, My Lord…? Does it displease you?" asked Kan'u shyly with reddened cheeks.

"N–No, It's ok! It's fine, really!" I stammered, blushing. The two of us were silent for a moment before saying, "U–Uh, what happened to me while I was knocked out?" Looking around, I realized that we were still in the same place.

"Um, I… had you leaning against this rock." Kan'u said, gesturing to the large boulder behind her. "Then I found some medicinal herbs, not too far from here and picked them, making it into a paste before I applied it to your injury before I… had you lay down with your head on my lap."

"I… see." I said. Come to think of it, I felt a hot and cold sensation on my stomach, and it feels tingly. It must be the medicinal paste she made. I smiled gently before saying, "Thank you for help. I don't know what I'd do if I was all by myself."

"It's not a problem." Kan'u smiled. "I'm just glad that you are well."

I have to admit, seeing her smile made her look so pretty. She look dignified, yet calm, comforting, and friendly.

"I guess I should introduce myself." I said before properly kneeling in front of her and bowed slightly. "My name's Kurogasa Kururugi. It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Kan'u nodded. "I haven't properly introduced myself, so now is a good time. My last name is Kan, followed by my first name U. And I also go by the common name of Unchou."

I blinked when she introduced herself.

Once.

Twice.

"Uh, are you really Kan'u Unchou, the wielder of the Green Dragon Crescent Blade?" I inquired somewhat unsurely. I pray that my suspicion didn't come true.

Kan'u looked surprised by my inquiry. "Y–Yes, that's correct. If I may ask, how did you know of my weapon, My Lord?"

I felt a headache incoming despite only waking up. Oh no… I didn't somehow end up in an alternate universe, did I? But that was unreal! It only happens in an anime, a manga, or a video game! There was no way that could happen in real life, right?

Right?

Seeing me massage the temples of my head, Kan'u looked worried.

"My Lord? Are you alright?" she asked.

"…I just needed to process the information, Kan'u–san. And please call me Kurogasa. I'm not comfortable when you call me 'My Lord'."

"But that would be improper, especially when addressing a Messenger of Heaven such as you!" retorted Kan'u.

I looked at her in confusion. "A Messenger of Heaven? Who or what is that?"

"A Messenger of Heaven is a person that is mentioned in Kanrou–sama's prophecy." answered Kan'u. "It says, 'From the heavens shall descend a Messenger. He who had plucked the fruits of heaven will unite the land under his banner. The world will be dyed in his image and peace shall reign the land like a serene forest'."

I was impressed by her recounting, but frowned slightly when I noticed the similarity of this prophecy and the words at Gaim's prologue. A foreshadowing coincidence, maybe?

"I see… and you're convinced that I am this Messenger of Heaven spoken in that prophecy?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm sure of that because only someone from heaven will wear shining clothes like yours and are capable of transforming into an armored warrior using the fruit that appeared from heaven itself!" answered Kan'u with so much conviction in her words.

I felt bad to disappoint this beautiful girl who really believed that I was the person she was looking for, but on the other hand I didn't want to lie to her.

Before I could reply to her, I heard someone coming and called out from the top of her lung.

"Aneja!"

The person was a girl with short red hair and blue eyes. Her hair was decorated with a cartoonish tiger hairclip. She was wearing a navy blue half shirt which revealed her midriff underneath her yellow half jacket with a yin–yang symbol on her left shoulder and navy shorts with a brown belt that had a silver buckle with the image of the yin–yang symbol. It was further complimented with a long, red scarf. Her hands were covered with a pair of navy blue fingerless gloves with red bangles while the right glove reached below her elbow and she didn't wear any shoes, opting to wear navy socks with open toes and heels. Her spear was easily twice her size with a blue ragged cloth wrapped underneath its zigzagged blade. She carried it without much of a problem to my surprise.

"Oh, you finally caught up." Kan'u noticed as the girl ran up to us and stopped.

"Mou~, I can't believe you left me behind." The little girl whined, and for some reason, her tiger hairclip seemed to mimic her facial expression.

"Is it not your fault for playing with that puppy?" Kan'u asked rhetorically.

"Mmmmmmmmm…" the girl pouted before noticing me. "Huh? Who's _that_ guy?"

"Hey, don't be rude!" Kan'u scolded. "This is the Messenger of Heaven we've been seeking."

The little girl blinked before her eyes widened in realization. "Oh, so you're the Messenger of Heaven?"

"Uh…" I said.

"Well, I better introduce myself!" She grinned.

Oi, I didn't get to answer yet!

"My last name is Chou, followed by first name Hi! My common name is Yokutoku!"

…

…

…

…

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"

Kan'u and Chouhi were suddenly surprised by my outcry. "W–What's wrong?" Kan'u asked worriedly.

"B–Bakana!" I said as my right eye twitched and jaw dropped while I shakily pointed at the girl. "Y–You're… You're _THE_ Chouhi Yokutoku?!"

There's no _way_ that little girl is the legendary Chouhi Yokutoku! It's impossible!

"Nya? You know of Rinrin?" she asked in surprise before she pouted. "And what's with that response?"

I blinked. Rinrin? I thought her name was Chouhi, as in _that_ Chouhi Yokutoku. And she was a little girl. And what's with that true name she talked about?

"Calm down, Rinrin. It seems My Lord is really surprised about something. He also knows about me and my weapon, apparently. As expected of the Messenger of Heaven." Kan'u smiled before she turned at Chouhi. "Please go back to the village where we stayed last night and prepare a room for him."

"Okay!" said Chouhi smiling before dashing away leaving dust cloud behind her.

Kan'u chuckled seeing her enthusiasm while I was still baffled on my current situation. It was official. I ended up in an alternate universe where the major characters of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms were girls. Or so it seemed to me. Oh great, I could feel the headache now.

"We should go too, My Lord," said Kan'u as she stood up.

I also stood up and called for her her. "Wait a minute, where are we anyway?"

"We are at the Zhuo district in Yozhou Province," answered Kan'u. "Surely you have known about it when you descend from the heavens, right?"

I was right. I was in China now, right at the beginning of the Three Kingdoms era. I sighed. I really didn't want to do this, but it was better to tell her the truth now rather than later.

"Look, Kan'u–san. I'm sorry to say this to you, but I'm not the person you're looking for. Maybe."

Kan'u's eyes widened in surprise. "W–What do you mean?"

"My clothes are made from a material known as Polyester that reflects light and as for my transformation… that's a whole different matter." I really didn't want to explain about the Lockseeds, Sengoku Driver, Helheim Forest, and Inves to her right now. "But suffice to say that I'm not this Messenger of Heaven."

"Y–You're not?" the disappointment on her tone and eyes were almost heartbreaking. I really felt bad right now.

"Before I arrived in this place… or era, or whatever it is, I'm only a high school student, kendo practitioner, and a Kamen Rider enthusiast. Sorry if I misled you." he finished as he bowed to her.

"I–I see…" said Kan'u as she looked down before she bowed. "I apologize for my falsely assuming you as the person I'm looking for."

She stood up and smiled at me, but I could tell she was clearly faking it to hide her great disappointment. "I believed in the prophecy told by Kanrou–sama because I too, wished for peace in this chaotic era." Kan'u's smile became sadder and fragile at this point. "The village where Rinrin and I grew up was attacked by bandits and they killed so many… including our families and our teacher. We left our village together after we helped rebuild it, with the last gift from our teacher in hand. Then we heard the prophecy in the capital and I believed that by serving this Messenger of Heaven, I can bring peace to the land. And now, just as I thought I found him…"

Her amber eyes became glassy as if she was trying to hold back her tears. Now I felt like a jerk for making a girl almost cry.

Kan'u shook her head again. "I apologize again for the inconvenience. I suppose I shouldn't jump to conclusions like that."

"No, I should be the one apologizing." I said regretfully. "I mean, I'm really confused because of what happened recently and now I find myself away from my home and separated from my friends." I then looked at her right in the eyes. "I don't know how much I can do, but I'll help you out."

"E–Eh?" Kan'u looked at me surprised.

I smiled at her. "I said I'll help you out. I still believe I'm not this Messenger of Heaven, but there's no way I wouldn't help a girl in need. It goes against my code of honor. Besides, it's not like anyone besides you knows this fact, right?"

"Yes that's correct, but…"

"You hate lying, heck I hate that too. But there's a time where you have to lie to help those in need. Besides, by becoming this Messenger of Heaven, I can look for my friends too." I then offered my hand to her. "So what do you say, Kan'u–san? Partners?"

Kan'u looked at me for a moment before a beautiful smile graced her face. "It seems I wasn't mistaken. You really _are_ the Messenger of Heaven, Kurogasa–sama."

She then bowed deeply at him, surprising me.

"H–Hey, what are you doing!?"

"My name is Kan'u Unchou, the wielder of Green Dragon Crescent Blade. I hereby pledge my servitude to My Lord, Kurogasa Kururugi."

"W–Wait a sec! You don't have to do that! Can't we just shake hands to get it over with? I don't want to be your lord, but your friend!" I said flustered.

"I'm afraid I can't, My Lord. My pride and honor asked me to do so." said Kan'u as she stood up and smiled at me.

"You're serious about this, aren't you?" I asked rhetorically and she nodded. "Fine, do what you wish. It's not like I can stop you or anything."

"Thank you, My Lord. Please call me by my true name, Aisha."

"True name?" asked Kurogasa before he shook his head. "Never mind that, but please call me Kurogasa. I told you I'm not comfortable if you called me 'My Lord'." I then paused as an idea entered my head. "Or better yet, you can call me Gaim. It's the name of the armor I used earlier."

"Very well, Gaim–sama." answered Aisha with a smile. "Let us head for the village then. It's not too far from here and we can discuss how we should continue."

"Lead the way, Aisha." I said, also smiling at her.

I can tell right now, that this is gonna be one crazy adventure.

* * *

And there you have it folks! The first chapter of Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Knigdoms is in the books! I hope everyone enjoyed the story as much as Vanishing Raptor and I enjoyed writing it! But how was it? Was it good? Was it bad? I don't know. I can't read your minds, so you're gonna have to tell in your reviews, however I do not except flames. I can take constructive criticism to an extent, but I can't have you hurting my feelings with hateful words spat out towards me, so please do not send a flame. The best thing you could do, is that if you don't like it, don't review, not read further, and go on with your lives. That's all I can say about that. So with that said, stay tuned for the next chapter and as always, thanks for reading!


	2. First Blood

Hello everyone, it's Fenikkusumaru here, along with Vanishing Raptor, giving you the latest chapter of Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Kingdoms! To those who have reviewed, I thank you for sending them. I'm glad that none of them are flames. And I promise to keep doing my best in writing this out with Vanishing Raptor. So without further ado, here is the next chapter of Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Kingdoms!

Disclaimer: Same thing.

* * *

Aisha and I walked together towards the nearest village in Zhuo District, Xizang according to my black haired companion. I really wanted to strike a conversation with my new friend, vassal, or whatever my relationship with her should be, but my shy nature when it came to the opposite gender hampered me. Urgh, sometimes I wish I was like Koji minus the playboy attitude.

"Gaim–sama, may I ask you something?" asked Aisha suddenly.

"Huh? Oh yes, sure. Go ahead, Aisha–san."

"Can you tell me more about your armor?"

"Oh that. Well, I guess now's a good time as any," I answered and took out my Sengoku Driver and Orange Lockseed. "I transformed using these tools. The buckle is called the Sengoku Driver while the padlock is called the Lockseed. By inserting the Lockseed into my Sengoku Driver and cutting open the orange using this knife," I motioned to the Cutting Blade switch. "…the Lockseed will call on the armor which is called Arms according to the Lockseed I used in the Driver. These Arms come from the place called Helheim Forest."

"Is this… Helheim Forest located in Heaven?" asked Aisha as she curiously peered at the Lockseed.

I grimaced at that. "No, actually Helheim Forest is the farthest thing you could relate to heaven." I really didn't need to scare her with the truth of Helheim Forest like what Takatora revealed in Episode 20.

Aisha blinked in confusion. "But… didn't that armor come from Heaven itself?"

"Actually, that zipper like portal is the gateway to Helheim Forest. They can open anywhere as long as you unlock the Lockseed," I explained before I paused to let the information sick in. "The Lockseeds are fruits that grow abundantly in Helheim Forest in their immature form. Someone wearing the Sengoku Driver can pluck these fruits and will immediately mature into a Lockseed like this one."

"I see." Kan'u pondered. "And what about that Inves creature you spoke of earlier?"

"Oh that?" I asked. "Well, the Inves are the inhabitants of Helheim Forest. The immature Lockseeds are their source of food. They eat those things like they're candy. Normally, they don't really bother you, but if you have a Lockseed in your hands, they'll do anything to get their hands on it."

"Is that so…" Kan'u said. "So then, how did that Inves get to this world?"

"Well, I was attacked by some bandits and one of them opened up a Lockseed causing a portal to open and that Inves you and I fought appeared." I explained. "That's another function of the Lockseed. When one doesn't have a Sengoku Driver, but has a Lockseed, they can open a Lockseed to summon an Inves and help the user out."

I then continued saying, "However, if the user drops the Lockseed the Inves will run amok attacking anyone and anything they see. And it can get worse if they eat a matured Lockseed. If they do, they grow up into a Berserker state which is larger and stronger. Thankfully, the Inves earlier didn't notice the dropped Lockseed and focused on attacking me and you."

"I see…"

"Inves are also dangerous if and when they manage to actually wound someone. They leave some kind of disease on their victim's body and make the Helheim vegetation _grow_ from their body causing them great pain. And the worst thing is, Inves can control the growth of this disease so none of the victims are actually safe from harm once they were attacked."

Aisha gulped after hearing my explanation. "So that's why you asked if that Inves touched me earlier… If it did…"

The girl shuddered in fear but I placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "Hey, at least you're safe now. If there're anymore Inves in the future, just leave it to me. Okay?"

"Thank you, Gaim–sama," said Aisha gratefully with a smile.

"It's no problem," I grinned before I noticed where my hand was and quickly pulled it back with a blushing face. Man, her skin was really soft– ack! Bad thoughts! No bad thoughts! "Uh, sorry about that, Aisha–san."

"It's not a problem, Gaim–sama," replied Aisha also with a slight blush on her cheeks. "We're nearing the village now. Shall we make haste?"

"Sure, let's go." I said and we resumed walking.

* * *

**(Cue Theme Howling Soul by Rekka Katakiri)**

**(First Instrumental Section)** We see black and white flashes of a few of the girls before freezing on Kurogasa in full color, standing back to back with Gaim. Then a few more black and white flashes of the girls appearing before coming to a full color image of Koji, smirking coolly with several of his harem girls surrounding him as Baron is off to the side. The last few black and white flashes then occur as we see Souji and Daigo stand back to back, Souji looking serious and Daigo upbeat as Zangetsu and Ryugen stand by them.

**(Second Instrumental Section)** the title logo for "Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Kingdoms" appears in front of the palace before it slowly fades to change scenes. The scene changes to Kurogasa as Gaim leading the Shu forces in battle. Then, the scene changes to Koji as Baron, attacking a group of Inves with the Go forces. Lastly, the scene changes to Daigo and Souji as Ryugen and Zangetsu, protecting the Gi forces.

**(Tsumetai genjitsu nageki kodoku ni karada furuwasu) **The scene changes to a destroyed village as rain poured down. Kurogasa was sitting with his back on a destroyed wall, looking down on the ground sadly. His eyes then shifted to the Orange Lockseed in his hand, and clenched it tightly before looking up at the cloudy sky.  
**(Koko kara nigedashitai kedo sukoshi mo ugokazu ni ita)** Koji is then seen on a balcony, leaning against the railing, looking out into the night with a deep, thoughtful look on his face. He looks down briefly at the Banana Lockseed in his hand. Taking a deep breath, he turns back into the building.

**(Uzumaku sabishisa kanji kuchibiru tsuyoku kamishimeru)** In the palace courtyard, Daigo is sitting on the tree, leaning his back against the huge trunk looking bored as he looked at his Budou Lockseed while his Souji was sitting down on a chair, reading a scroll before looked up at the sky then looked back down at the table where his Melon Lockseed was.  
**(Kuyashinamida nagasu mae ni yuuki furishibori onore tsuranuke)** Suddenly, the scene changes to a town that seemed to have started to be overtaken by Helheim. As Inves surround them, Kurogasa, Koji, Daigo, and Souji nod to each other as they put on their Sengoku Drivers. Locking on their Lockseeds, they transform into Kamen Riders Gaim, Baron, Ryugen, and Zangetsu.

**(Atsuku tagiru tamashii otakebi to tomo ni tokihanate)** In the following shot, as the Kamen Riders battle against the Inves, the women prove their martial might in the fight by taking on the Inves as well, different shots showing them each in action.  
**(Kimerareta RUURU wo uchikowashite)** As the fighting continued, in the distance Kurogasa sees Saji, the man who had started it all and sent him and his friends to the Three Kingdoms world and he immediately charges at him.  
**(Kakenukero jiyuu e to)** Saji smirked evilly as he takes out his own Sengoku Driver. His Lockseed, however, is obscured because as he activates it, a flash of light overtakes the screen, making it unclear which Rider he becomes or if Kurogasa hits him.

**(Instrumental)** Kurogasa, Koji, Daigo, and Souji are seen with their armies, sitting in yukata's of the color scheme of their Rider, holding up their Lockseeds. The Musou women stand behind them at the ready with their weapons out as the title logo appears again.

* * *

Chapter 2: First Blood

We continued walking until he finally arrived at the village. However… when we got there…

"What?" Kan'u gasped.

"What the– What happened _here_?!" I asked shocked.

The village we were supposed to stay in was burned down. Houses were smoked, some were burned leaving traces of small of embers and worst of all… there were some corpses that lied around as the scent of burned flesh polluted the air.

I couldn't stand the look of the village and the smell of the air as I suddenly had the urge to vomit.

"Aneja!" Aisha and I saw Chouhi approached us. "It's the Yellow Turbans! They attacked the village while we're gone!"

"Those swine…!" snarled Aisha angrily as she clenched her hand, holding the shaft of her weapon tightly.

I tried my best not to retch at the sight of dead bodies. This was the first time I saw such violent deaths and worse, it was done by humans who were driven by their own greed.

"Rinrin, help those villagers now! Gaim–sama and I will also lend our help!" barked Aisha.

"Got it!"

As she watched Chouhi left, Aisha turned to me, looking pale and sick. As if she understood what I was feeling right now, she asked me softly, "Is this your first time seeing what happened at the end of bandit attack, Gaim–sama?"

"…Y–Yeah," I answered shakily. "This is horrible… why would they do this?"

"It's because they choose to," said Aisha. "Those bandits, the Yellow Turbans, were once farmers that felt dissatisfied with their life because of the poverty and unemployment while the government officials are doing nothing to improve their situation. So they chose to arm themselves and rebel against the Han Dynasty."

"B–But why would they attack other village if they want to improve their lives? It doesn't make sense!"

"Because they are driven by their own greed and selfishness. As long as they are happy, they wouldn't care about how anyone else feels."

I looked at Aisha who was trying to repress her own bad memories before looking at the surviving villagers. I saw some of them try to move the dead bodies away, but the sight of a young child crying over the bodies of his parents made something inside of me snap. I clenched my fists in anger as steely determination reflected in my eyes.

"Come on, Aisha–san. Let's help the villagers."

"Understood, Gaim–sama."

So with that, the two of us along with Chouhi helped out the survivors, getting to a safe place that was still standing and not destroyed. Thankfully, there was one such place. It was a restaurant of some sort, or what used to be a restaurant, but right now, it's been made into a makeshift hospital. Going in, I saw the damage those bandits did. Some villagers had minor burns and covered in soot, others were bleeding, a few had bandages on various parts of their bodies, and several were mourning over the deaths of their loved ones. It was a very sad sight to see. I've seen these kinds of things on the news where refugees seek shelter from the terrors of violence, but that was nothing compared to seeing this firsthand. To see this with my very own eyes… words cannot express on what I'm feeling right now.

"This is terrible…" Aisha said sadly.

"Yeah, it's a miracle that these villagers are the only ones that survived the onslaught." I agreed.

"Is everyone okay?" Chouhi asked the villagers making them turn to us. One of them stood up who was a middle aged man, and he looked to be the leader.

"Who are you…?" The Village Leader asked. Aisha looked at him firmly.

"We have come to fight the sufferings brought by these wars and to annihilate the Yellow Turbans." Aisha said.

"The Imperial Guard has come to save us?!" A second villager gasped, making the others murmur.

"No… unfortunately we are not of the Imperial Guard." Kan'u said sadly. The villagers all slumped their shoulders at that.

"But we _did_ come to help you out." Chouhi said.

"What can kids like _you_ do?" The second villager asked. "Even we adults can't stand up against the Yellow Turbans!"

"There were just too many." The Village Leader said.

"How many are we talking about exactly?" I asked.

"There must have been at least four thousand!" The Village Leader exclaimed. "How can a tiny village fight against so many!?"

No way! 4,000 Yellow Turbans?! That's overkill!

"But you all fought, didn't you?" Chouhi asked.

"Of _course_ we did!" The Village Leader said. "We couldn't just let those bandits destroy our home! But… there were just too many…"

"They took everything from us and they said they'll be back!" The second villager cried out.

"What if they come back?" A third villager asked. "They'll take all our food away! They'll probably take my wife and daughter too!"

"I know that!" The Village Leader snapped. "But what do you expect us to do?! How can we defend ourselves against those beastly savages?!"

The third villager flinched at that, before looking away sadly saying, "I don't know…"

"Gaaaaaaaah, why doesn't the Imperial Guard help us?! The second villager said frustrated. "This rebellion is all thanks to the selfishness of those officials! Why do we have to get dragged into this and suffer for them?!"

"What's the point in complaining about that now?" The Village leader asked rhetorically. "They may come back and attack us again tomorrow for all we know!"

"There's going to be another attack tomorrow?" Aisha asked.

"Most likely." The Village Leader grimaced. "They've set their sights on our village now that they know we're weak. They'll keep coming back until there's nothing left for them to steal!"

"Then let's run!" The second villager suggested. "Our only hope is for the whole village to run away!"

"How can we do that? Our ancestors _built_ this village! We _must_ protect it!"

"I want to protect it too! But… But… How _can_ we, at this rate?!"

The villagers then began to argue with one another and were growing restless. At this rate, they're gonna be fighting each other and not the Yellow Turbans. I have to do something to help these people. I'm no Messenger of Heaven and I don't want to lie to these people and give them false hope but… as I told Aisha, there comes a time where you _have_ to lie to help those in need. It sickens me to my stomach when it comes to lying, but I have no other choice.

"Excuse me!" I said, getting their attention. "I think I may have an idea."

"Gaim–sama?" Aisha asked confused.

"What is it?" The Village Leader asked. "Is there a way we can be saved?"

"Maybe." I said.

"Then please tell us! What is it?!" The Village Leader asked desperately.

"A great seer named Kanrou has foretold the arrival of a person called the Messenger of Heaven and this person is supposed to be the one who will lead the land into an era of peace." I said before I paused to let the villagers absorb my words. I let my eyes catch Aisha's discreetly. There was a moment of hesitance on hers, but it was quickly replaced with steely determination. I then turned at the villagers. "What I'm trying to say is… this Messenger of Heaven can help you fight against the bandits, only if you really want to win against them."

"The Messenger of Heaven? This is the first time I've heard about that." said one of the villagers.

"You may believe it or not, but everyone in Luoyang is talking about this Messenger of Heaven. Some Lords have also heard about it and they are also looking for him." replied Aisha in my place.

"Really? Is that so?"

"Then where is he? Where is this Messenger of Heaven?"

I steeled myself to say what's coming next, while trying to repress the uneasiness in my stomach. "That Messenger of Heaven… is me."

Immediately, the villagers roared out their disbelief.

"You?! But I'm expecting someone older!"

"Yeah! How come someone as young as you is the Messenger of Heaven?!"

"Are you trying to lie to us?!"

"Please calm down! I know this is so sudden and unbelievable, but I assure you that Gaim–sama is the Messenger of Heaven himself." answered Aisha trying to pacify the villagers.

"Then what proof do you have?"

"Firstly, look at his clothes. Only those who descend from Heaven can wear such radiant clothes made from Polyester, a material that can only be woven in Heaven." said Aisha, pointing out her argument. The villagers looked at my clothes while I tried not to fidget under the scrutinizing eyes of the villagers. It was so uncomfortable to me, but I was trying to look as dignified as possible.

"That's right… his clothes look so shiny and bright…"

"I don't think any other clothes can look like that."

"He doesn't look like someone from around here too."

"And there's this." I took out my Sengoku Driver and placed it in front of my waist. The villagers were surprised to see it form a yellow belt that secured the device to my waist. I thought about summoning the Orange Arms, but that could be saved for later along with my transformation. "This device on my waist is one of the proofs I have that I _am_ this Messenger of Heaven."

The villagers looked at the Sengoku Driver in awe because it was definitely something not from Earth, well… at least not until a long time.

"Do you really think you can help us win against the bandits?"

The hopeful tone the villagers used to ask, made me feel bad to lie to them, but there was no choice.

"I know about tactics and strategies because I read them on my spare time," This was not exactly a lie since my grandfather always had me read books about war and strategy during my visits when I was young. "While I admit it wasn't much, it will definitely help you win against the bandits."

There was silence for a moment before one of the villagers asked, "Do you think we can really win?"

"Only if you believe that you can. Victory belongs to those who really want to win and try their hardest to achieve it," answered Aisha without pause. "Gaim–sama and I will help you, but only if you really want to fight back against those bandits."

"Then let's do it!" said one of the villagers vigorously. "Let's show those bandits why they shouldn't mess with us and our village!"

"We have the Messenger of Heaven to help us! We shouldn't let this divine grace slip away!"

The other villagers cheered out their agreement. Their mind was finally made into action.

"Then arm yourself with anything you can use to fight against those bandits! Show them no mercy for their impudence!"

"I'll go gather more men!"

"I'll find anything that we can use a weapon!"

"And I will gather the food!" The Village Leader said.

"Good. We need everyone's help on this, so let's get to work!" I encouraged.

"Yeah!" The villagers cheered before they went out the makeshift hospital, while the injured stayed behind to recover.

As the last of the villagers left, Aisha and I slumped slightly. It was hard for us to lie to the villagers, but we have no other choice. It was that or leave the villagers at the mercy of the bandits, who would kill them and ransack the village or do something worse that would go against their conscience.

"Ne, Aisha, Onii–chan. Are you alright?" asked Chouhi worriedly.

"We're fine, Rinrin," answered Aisha with a bitter smile. "Although… I feel bad to lie to those villagers."

"Me either, but it's not like we have any other choice do we?" I added as I straightened up. "I hate lying, but we don't have much of a choice either, to help those villagers. Let's try to not lie to them in the future."

"You're right, Gaim–sama. Then let's do our best to help them," smiled Aisha.

"Yeah, let's go." I nodded punching my open palm.

"Alright! We're going to kick some butt!" cheered Chouhi before she turned to me. "Hmm… Onii–chan, you haven't told Rinrin your name yet."

I blinked before realization hit me. I laughed sheepishly as I scratched the back of my head. "Oh, yeah, I haven't introduced myself to you yet. I'm Kurogasa Kururugi, but you can call me Gaim if you want, Chouhi–san."

"Nice to meet ya, Gaim–niichan! You can call Rinrin, Rinrin!"

I chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Alright, Rinrin–chan."

"Rinrin, can you get someone to scout where the bandit camp is?" asked Aisha.

"Sure! Leave it to me!" with that said, Chouhi, or Rinrin as she wanted to be called, left to get some scouts.

"Come on, Gaim–sama. Let's help the villagers prepare."

"Right, let's go." While I looked ready and willing, inside I was dreading to kill another person even if they were bandits who had killed others simply because of their greed and selfish reasons. Again, I had no choice on this. It was them or those innocents in the end. Now that I'm a Kamen Rider, I know that I had to choose.

* * *

After two hours of preparation, we managed to gather 2,000 villagers volunteering for their makeshift army, armed with anything they can find as weapons. From common swords and spears to farming tools such as sickles, hoes, pickaxes, and pitchforks. Some of the older volunteers were armed with bows and arrows. Fortunately, the turbans' weapons were in poor quality as Rinrin's scout had told them, so common farming tools were able to break them. It was also from this scout that they managed to find their camp which was located west of the village.

Aisha, Rinrin, and I stood in front of the gathered villagers, our expression set into a determined frown. I couldn't help but feel impressed with their determination and drive to protect their village.

"Gaim–sama," said Aisha from my side. "It's time to move out. But before we do that, please give a rousing speech to them."

"Eh? A speech?" I asked with wide eyes. "But I've never given a speech before!"

"It will be the last weapon the villagers need for their victory. That's why Gaim–sama, please give them a speech to raise their spirit."

I stepped forward and gulped nervously. I could feel their stares on me, as if they were judging my worthiness.

"So that's the Messenger of Heaven…"

"He looks so young. Is he really the Messenger of Heaven?"

"Can't you tell from his shining clothes? It's made from a material unique to Heaven itself called Polyester!"

"Po–ly–es–ter? Is that what it's called?"

"And that strange belt he has on his waist is proof that he is the Messenger of Heaven!"

"Really? What does it do?"

That's when I got an idea after hearing the last villager's question. Deciding that action spoke louder than words, I pulled out my Orange Lockseed and unlocked it.

**ORANGE!**

The portal to Helheim Forest opened and the Orange Arms descended from it, causing the villagers to gasp collectively in surprise and awe. I then moved my hand in front of my face as I uttered the key phrase for every Kamen Rider out there.

"Henshin!"

I placed the Orange Lockseed to the Driver and locked it before I cut it open with the Cutting Blade Switch.

**LOCK ON!**

**SOIYA!**

The Orange Arms descended and landed on my shoulders, forming the Pre–Arms suit with a splash effect. It then opened and folded out to form the armor that attached to my suit, revealing my masked visage with another splash effect as Daidaimaru appeared on my right hand.

**ORANGE ARMS! HANAMICHI ON STAGE!**

The villagers were now openly gaping at me and I also felt the stares from Aisha and Rinrin from my back, more from the latter because this was the first time she saw me transform.

After the transformation, I took a deep breath to calm myself down. "People of Xizang, we're about to enter a battle that will decide the fate of your village. Today is the day that this village is liberated from hands of the Yellow Turbans. You all stand here today for the liberation of this land. Blood will be shed. Sacrifices will be made. I can't guarantee that all of us will make it out of it alive. I'm not going to lie. Some of you here may not live to see your home liberated. But don't let that stop you! You're proud villagers. Don't fight for yourselves. Don't fight for even me. Fight, instead, for your land you love!" I then raised my Daidaimaru in the air. "NOW LET ME, HEAR YOUR RESOLVE!"

The cheer erupted from the villagers was almost deafening. Seeing my transformation and hearing my speech definitely erased any lingering doubts about me being the Messenger of Heaven.

"So he really _is_ the Messenger of Heaven!"

"Just look at his transformation! He uses an orange from the heavens as his armor!"

"Ah… I feel so blessed after seeing this…"

I smiled behind my helmet, feeling confident for this upcoming task. I turned to see Aisha nod approvingly at me with a smile while Rinrin was looking at me with stars in her eyes before turning at the villagers.

"Alright everyone, let's go! We're going to show what those bandits will get when they follow their greed!"

After one last cheer, Aisha, Rinrin, and I led the villagers to where the bandits were starting their camp, about an hour walk, west of the village. As we were marching, the villagers were getting psyched with me, the Messenger of Heaven leading them to battle. In their mind, 'Divine Retribution' never sounded so fitting like this situation before.

I on the other hand was still trying to come to terms that I was going to kill people using this armor, as a Kamen Rider. I remember what Kamen Riders were supposed to symbolize: the symbol of hope and justice against the tyranny of evil. Yet, is it right to kill people just because they were evil? Because they surrendered themselves to their selfish desire and greed? Because they become evil itself? It was different than fighting against the Shika Inves earlier. Inves lost their humanity a long time ago and became mindless monsters with fitting appearances. But these bandits looked human and it was hard for me to kill another human.

"Gaim–sama? What's wrong?" asked Aisha, as if she noticed my unease.

I turned slightly on her and answered her in low voice. "This will be the first time I'm going to kill other people. I guess I'm still trying make, some sense in this."

"I see…" she answered with understanding look on her face before she looked forward and closed her eyes. "It will be hard when you first spill blood and it won't get any easier the next time. But I take some comfort knowing for each bandit I killed, the innocents can sleep easy and go on with their peaceful life." Aisha then turned to me. "That is how I see it Gaim–sama. I hope that reason can help you with your problem."

I looked at her for a moment before I smiled at her. "Thanks, Aisha. Now I know what to do."

"No need to thank me, Gaim–sama. It is my duty as your vassal to help you," she replied with a smile.

I shook my head in amusement. If that was how she saw herself, then I won't bother to correct her. I will always view her as a friend and comrade first.

* * *

After one hour of marching, we finally saw the Yellow Turbans' campsite below the hill where they were currently standing on. I gave them the order to halt and duck so the bandits won't see us. After assessing the situation to myself, I nodded to Aisha and Rinrin who nodded back to me before looking at the volunteer army.

"Alright people, this is it. There's no turning back after this. Are you all ready?"

My question was answered with firm nods. Aisha then spoke up to the villagers.

"We will advance as we trained. Every man attack in pairs! Archers will pick up stragglers that broke up from the Yellow Turbans' rank!" Aisha then stood up and raised her halberd, pointing it towards the sky." I am Kan'u Unchou, wielder of the Green Dragon Crescent Blade! My blade shall help you protect what is important to you!"

"Chouhi Yokutoku of the Viper Spear is here too!" declared Rinrin as she slammed the shaft of her weapon to the ground.

I stood up as I shifted Daidaimaru to my left hand and unsheathed the Musou Saber with my right and pointed it to the Yellow Turbans' camp. "Everyone! Charge!"

The villagers roared fiercely as Aisha, Rinrin, and I led our righteous charge toward the Yellow Turbans. The bandits mentioned were caught off guard by our sudden attack and reacted almost too late.

Using the boosts my armor provided, I struck the first Turban I encountered, with the Musou Saber, killing him instantly. I repressed the bile in my throat as blood spurted from the wound on my victim's chest before I parried a sword slash with my Daidaimaru, breaking the sword on contact before stabbing its wielder. I didn't stay long before attacking another bandit while mentally chanting to keep my mind focused.

_'It's them or the civilians, it's them or the civilians, it's them or the civilians…!' _ I kept repeating in my mind. "HAAAAAAHHHHH!" I let out a loud battle cry as my blades cut away the Turbans who foolishly stood in my way.

On another side of the battlefield, Aisha slashed another Turban along with his weapon as he futilely blocked her attack before jamming the butt of her weapon to a Turban who tried sneak on her before she spun around and brought her Green Dragon Crescent Blade down to behead him and his comrades nearby. Getting a slight breather, Aisha spared a glance at me, methodically cutting down Yellow Turbans with the villagers of my unit supporting me. Aisha heaved a relieved sigh, seeing me, doing just fine even if this is my first time killing people. She spared another glance to Rinrin who was having a field day as she sent Turbans flying with a single swing of her spear. More of the Turbans were sent flying and being dead as the petite red head swung her spear again and again. Seriously that girl was really having fun in a situation like this.

Sighing to herself, Aisha's eyes hardened as she twirled her weapon above her head and brought it into a perfect circular clash, killing the Turbans that tried to surround her. She then quickly thrust her weapon as it dug into a bandit's chest before she yanked it out and dodged reckless slashes from the Yellow Turbans around her before her weapon flashed and spilled their blood.

As his comrades' dying body hit the ground, one of the frustrated bandits yelled out, "Dang it, how can we lose to a mere woman like her?!"

Aisha glared at him coldly as she held her weapon ready and declared to the bandits out loud, "My name is Kan'u Unchou, wielder of the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, and the first vassal of the Messenger of Heaven, Kurogasa Kururugi–sama! I shall take your life for your insolence!"

She charged at the hapless bandit with a loud shout.

"TAAAAHHH!"

I slashed down another bandit and broke another sword as I parried before countering by striking the bandit on his chest. I then pulled the yellow tab on my Musou Saber and emptied the magazine as I shot at the bandits who tried to attack me. I then looked at more of the incoming bandits who tried to surround and gang up on me. Reacting quickly, I reached for the Sengoku Driver and sliced my Orange Lockseed using the Cutting Knife switch once.

**SOIYA! ORANGE SQUASH!**

Daidaimaru lit up with an orange aura as I held it ready before slashing wide, creating an energy wave which struck the Turbans, killing them.

The Yellow Turbans were looking at me with trepidation and fear, seeing my impossible feat.

"What in the world _is_ this guy?!" one of the bandits asked out loud.

I stared back at them as I rested Daidaimaru on my shoulder and pointed my Musou Saber at them as I replied to his question. "My name is Gaim, Kamen Rider Gaim. If you have what it takes to dance with me, then come at me!"

With a loud battle cry, I charged headlong toward the bandits.

"W–What are you guys waiting for?! ATTAAAAAAAACK!" One of the Yellow Turbans yelled.

With that, about ten of them charged at me with their low quality weapons at the ready. But that proved to be worthless as I twirled my Musou Saber and Daidaimaru and gracefully slashed five of the Yellow Turbans with both my swords. I then proceeded by pulling the handle on the Musou Saber and fired energy bullets, killing them as well. Another twenty of them jumped at me, hoping to gang up on me with one strike, but I was quick as I looked to my Sengoku Driver and sliced the Orange Lockseed three times with the Cutting Blade.

**SOIYA! ORANGE SPARKING!**

At that point, the Orange Arms folded back up into the metal orange ad I spun it around rapidly, causing the Yellow Turban bandits to bounce back and be sent flying in the air. After it stopped spinning, it folded out back into my armor. "Alright, who's next?!" I shouted.

"W–What _is_ this guy?!" One of them shouted in fear.

"H–He's not human!" Another added.

"Run for your lives! He's gonna kill us!" A third wailed.

Some of the Yellow Turbans started to run away, but those who were too blinded by their own greed or too reckless decided to stay and fighting on despite the hopeless situation.

I frowned behind my mask and decided if it was a fight they wanted, it was a fight they will get. I struck wide with my Daidamaru, killing the incoming Yellow Turbans before pivoting on my foot and bringing my Musou Saber into a perfect arc, slashing at those who tried to surround me. Some of them tried to sneak on me, but my boosted senses saw them coming and I emptied my magazine on them before I reloaded and parried a slash from a Turban. As his sword broke from clashing with my weapons, I slashed the bandit on his chest before moving on to help a group of villagers who were cornered by a larger group of bandits.

It was times like this I wished I got a Genesis Core and an Energy Lockseed with me so I can assume a Jinba Arms mode and be armed with the Sonic Arrow. Its flexibility was very, appreciated here.

"Villagers over there! Duck!" I called out as I reached for my Sengoku Driver and sliced the Lockseed twice.

**SOIYA! ORANGE AU LAIT!**

Once more, Daidaimaru flared with an orange aura, but it was noticeably more intense this time. The aura then solidified into an enlarged orange slice–like energy projection that acted as an extension of Daidaimaru, similar to Baron's Au Lait Spear Victory. The surrounded villagers heard my call and immediately did as I asked while the bandits turned and saw me move in for the kill. They tried to get away, but I was faster and slashed them with my new finisher, killing the bandits in one swoop before they exploded.

I then approached the villagers asking, "Are you alright?'"

"We're fine. Thank you for your help, Gaim–sama," answered one of the villagers gratefully.

"Be careful to not let yourself get surrounded like that again. They outnumber us, so we have to fight smart to win this," replied Gaim.

"Yes, Gaim–sama!" snapped the villagers as one.

"Alright, let's go! We still have Turbans to beat!"

The villagers roared out their agreement as I led them to fight more Turbans.

As time passed, it was evident that the battle is going in our favor, especially with how many Turbans decided to turn tail and run away after witnessing their forces being decimated with ease by Aisha, Rinrin, and I. From the corner of my eye, I saw some Turbans sent flying to the air, courtesy of Rinrin. I'm still trying to comprehend on how such a diminutive sized girl possessed so much strength. I also saw Aisha methodically dodge and slash the bandits around her gracefully. Despite the situation, I couldn't help but admire her elegant moves. It was as if she was dancing in the midst of steel and death.

Aisha then slashed another group of Turbans with a single swipe of her Green Dragon Crescent Blade before she made her way to me.

"Gaim–sama! Are you alright?" she asked. Rinrin also approached me after sending several groups of Turbans flying with her Viper Spear.

"I'm fine, Aisha. Just a little tired," I answered.

"Wow, you're really strong Gaim–niichan!" commented Rinrin with a grin.

I laughed a little at her comment. "Thanks, Rinrin–chan. This armor not only provided protection for me, but it also boosted my strength and speed to a degree."

"Hee~h, really?" she dragged out her words. "Can I wear it too then?"

"Rinrin! This is not the right time or the right place to ask such questions! Focus on defeating the Yellow Turbans first!" scolded Aisha as she held her weapon ready.

"Muu~! I'm just asking," Rinrin pouted before she too held her weapon ready for the incoming Turbans.

I chuckled at the girls before I called out loud to my makeshift army. "We almost defeated them, everyone! Just a little more!"

The villagers roared out in return, emboldened by the good news they heard.

But suddenly, a zipper opened in midair causing everyone to stop and look at it. Rinrin looked at it in confusion while Aisha and I were shocked to see the portal to Helheim Forest open out of blue just like that.

"Gaim–sama… That's…!"

"A Crack!" I hissed before I looked at my spare Lockseeds in my Lockseed Holder and felt a little relieved that none of my Lockseeds have fallen somewhere during the battle. I looked around to see if there was anyone in vicinity who opened a Lockseed, but found none.

"I thought one can only open the gate to Helheim Forest if they opened a Lockseed like yours!" said Aisha.

"Not really. Cracks that lead into Helheim Forest can open anywhere and anytime if one place is connected to Helheim for an unknown reason. It will close on its own after a while, but some Inves may pass through," I answered tersely before I called out to the villagers, "Everyone, stay away from that Crack! Whatever you do, do not approach it!"

The villagers were confused by my words, but followed it anyway. An Inves then passed through the Crack and landed on one knee before it stood up and roared. Both villagers and Yellow Turbans stared at the creatures in fright as it looked around with a wild predatory gaze. The Inves looked like an anthropomorphic white tiger with some kind of tough–looking, green material that served like a set of armor on its upper body including the whole of its head with four extensions jutted out on its back. The rest of its body was covered by white skin with large, sinister claws on its right hand while its left hand looked like normal with claws and its legs have clawed foot.

"Byakko Inves!" I growled. It looked slightly different than Yuuya's Inves' form, but it was the Byakko Inves alright.

Aisha looked at me in surprise. "Byakko… As in Byakko of the Ssu Ling, the Guardian of the West?"

"In name only, but that thing is an Inves. No more and no less," I replied before I ordered the villagers, "Everyone listen! Don't engage that monster in combat! Avoid it at all costs and focus on the Turbans instead! I'll handle that monster myself!" I then turned to Aisha and Rinrin. "Aisha, watch my back and make sure none of the Turbans get in the way. I don't like them, but they deserve a better fate than becoming that Inves's food. Rinrin, lead the villagers to defeat the rest of the Turbans here."

"Understood, Gaim–sama!"

"I don't know what's going on, but you got it, Gaim–niichan!"

"Let's go!"

I then let out a battle cry to get the Byakko Inves's attention as I charged at it with my weapons poised to attack. The Inves noticed me and the mature Lockseeds I carried with me and roared challengingly. The Inves ran at me, ignoring the Turbans and villagers alike, and lashed out with its deadly claws and I dodged by ducking underneath and slashed it with my Musou Saber. The Inves flinched and I pressed on with a slash from my Daidaimaru followed by another slash from my Musou Saber before I crossed my blades and slashed it with all of my strength.

The Inves reeled back and tried to recover from my attack, but one of the braver Turbans–or stupid in this case–attacked the Inves.

"Wait, don't attack it!" Gaim warned, but it was already too late.

The shoddy weapon broke on making contact with its unnatural armor. The Byakko Inves growled angrily at the poor Turban before it stabbed him in the chest and violently ripped its claw out as he threw the mostly dead Turban away. Seeing the fate that has befallen on their comrade and seeing how powerful this creature was, the Turbans ran to safety and never looked back, but some of them still insisted to fight. Some of them decided to attack the Inves, but a single swipe from its claw sent them to the ground writhing in pain. I decided I had enough of the Inves, and attacked it once more with Aisha following me to make sure none of the Turbans took advantage of the mess.

I pulled the Pallet Slide on my Musou Saber and emptied my load at the Inves who flinched upon the attack, and turned to me. It roared angrily at me and charged forward. I took the initiative this time by attacking first with Daidaimaru, but the Inves blocked it with his larger claw and punched me on the chest. I stumbled back and it attacked again with its larger claw, but I managed to block the attack with the Musou Saber. I grunted as I pushed the offending limb away and when I did, I slashed the Inves away.

As it stumbled, I combined the Musou Saber and Daidaimaru together on the hilt before he attacked again. The Inves was just recovering from the attack when I came at it and slashed with my new weapon. The force behind the two handed slash was shown to be effective as the Inves was pushed back, before I slashed my weapon upward diagonally before slashing down. The Inves reeled, and I delivered a full powered sideway slash that sent the Inves down to the ground, but not out of the battle yet.

"Time to finish this!" I shouted. I removed the Orange Lockseed from my Sengoku Driver and placed it into the Drive Launch on the Musou Saber before locking it.

**LOCK ON! 1! 10! 100! 1,000! 10,000!**

The Byakko Inves saw this and shot four green energy–like whips at me, but thinking quickly, I twirled my Musou Saber in Naginata Mode in front of me to block the attack, surprising the Inves.

"IKUZOOOOOOOOOO!" I yelled before slashing it twice. The energy waves resulted from those slashes struck the Byakko Inves and trapped it in an orange fruit projection. I twirled my weapon once more before pointing at the trapped Inves with the Daidaimaru end as it flared with orange energy.

**ORANGE CHARGE!**

I sprinted forward with my weapon held ready and slashed the Inves with the flaring Daidaimaru end as I shouted.

"SEE–YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

The weapon sparked as it made contact with the Inves before I stopped several paces behind it. I held my stance as the Byakko Inves gave one last groan before its body exploded, and the energy orange that entrapped it also exploded, scattering orange slices in all directions.

I then lowered my stance slowly as I gazed at the surviving Turbans who looked back at me in fear before fleeing for their lives.

"Look, the Yellow Turbans are running away!"

"And Gaim–sama has defeated the monster!"

"We did it! We won!"

"UUOOOOOHHHH!"

The villagers cheered for their victory, proud and happy for this achievement. I then looked at where the Crack was, only to find it was already gone. I frowned in confusion. Why was that Crack opened in the middle of battle like this? Is Helheim Forest starting to invade this world too?

"Gaim–sama!"

"Gaim–niichan!"

I saw Aisha and Rinrin approach me with smiles on their face.

"We did it, Gaim–sama! We won!" said Aisha with the biggest smile on her face.

"Yeah! We showed the Turbans who's, boss!" grinned Rinrin.

"We sure did," I said, also grinning satisfied under my mask.

"Are you alright? You're fought that Inves alone after fighting so many Yellow Turbans…" Aisha asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, Aisha. I'm tired, but I'm alright," I replied before I turned to the villagers. "Good job everyone! This is your victory and you definitely deserve it!"

The villagers cheered once more upon my praise.

"Alright, count how many causalities we have before we return to the village. Is that clear?" the villagers nodded, noticeably less cheerful upon the reminder of their own loss in this battle. "Chin up everyone. Those who had lost their lives today will not want to see your sad faces after this victory. They will want you to raise your head in pride, knowing that you will continue in their place!"

The bright mood seemed to return to them at my words. It sounded right to them.

"Right, let's go back and tell the great news to everyone in the village. Oh, and remember to pile up the bodies of the Turbans and burn them off before they rot and smell."

The villagers nodded at my command and left back to the village with me and my two vassals leading them.

* * *

The villagers returned back to the village, tired and drained from what happened today yet they felt so proud of what they did to protect their home. I, having de–henshined on the way back to the village, watched as those who stayed behind welcomed those who returned with smiles and tears of relieve, while those who learned that their family and friends didn't manage to return cried and grieved for their loss. From 2,000 people who went into the battle, we suffered 235 causalities. It was a reminder that peace will not come without a price. If anything, it was a comforting thought to them that the number will be any smaller if the villagers didn't fight back or run away and those who had passed on can face their ancestors in the afterlife and proudly say to them 'I died to protect our village from harm.'

However, as these things dawned on me, I began to realize everything and thought about what I've been doing my whole life. For the first time, I… feel so stupid and pathetic. I should've realized this sooner.

This is the reality I'm going to live in. Seeing those families who loved ones did not return, made me sad. I looked at them as they looked for the face of someone they knew amongst the returning soldiers, and shed tears when they learned the fate of their love one. I brought all of this upon them. Not that I wanted to look good in front of Aisha, but… this was the result I brought about.

It was very frightening for me.

I can't believe… that I actually killed people, even though it was for the sake of the villagers and innocent people, but it doesn't change the fact that I now had their blood staining my hands. It's going to stay with me for the rest of my life.

And while the reality was settling in me, I started… crying…

"Gaim–sama?" Aisha asked a bit concerned. "Are you okay? Why are you crying?"

"I'm such a fool…" I whispered shakily.

"What?" Aisha asked confused.

"I just realized something Aisha…"

"What would that be?"

I was silent for a while, before saying, "The world isn't all what it's cracked up to be…"

"W–What makes you say that?"

I was silent, trying to compose myself as I said, "All my life I've been living aimlessly in pure, blissful, ignorance without a care in the world… and seeing today's battle, made me realize that the world can be a cold, dark, and terrible place." I then trembled as tears streamed down my eyes as I closed my eyes tight while bowing my head down. "I now see the horrors war and violence bring, and seeing these villagers trying to survive, makes me feel like I'm no better than those bandits who take everything. My whole I took everything for granted without realizing the consequences it will bring in the long run. I feel that my whole life is a sin! I'm so pathetic and weak… I… I…!"

That's when Aisha suddenly hugged me, with my eyes widening in surprise. "A–Aisha…?"

"It's alright, Gaim–sama," said Aisha soothingly. "Ignorance is indeed an inescapable mistake. Many have fallen into its trap, including me."

"W–What do you mean?"

Aisha pushed me slightly so she could look at me as she smiled sadly. "Before the bandits attacked, I was blissful of how the real world is. I talked about how one day I could change the world to be better, never realizing that strength or ideals alone will not be enough. You have to face the truth yourself and from there you have to make your own decision. Either to give up to reality or keep fighting for your dreams and ideals."

I was speechless as I listened to her words. It was like the conflict I had heard in the past. Truth vs. ideals and reality against dreams… an unending conflict since the beginning of time.

"Aisha… I…"

She then hugged me once more. "It's okay to make mistakes, but the most important thing is to make up for them and never repeat them again in the future."

I closed my eyes and smiled. That's right. I probably will commit mistakes as I live on, but I will have to make up for those mistakes and never repeat them in the future.

I separated from Aisha and smiled at her. "Thank you, Aisha."

"It's my pleasure, Kurogasa–sama," Aisha smiled back at him and calling me by my real name.

The village elder then approached me, as I managed to wipe all my tears and spoke to me. "We can't thank you enough for your help today, Gaim–sama."

"Ah, it's alright. I'm just… doing the right thing," I replied with a bashful smile.

"Such modesty… It's hard to see a person like you nowadays," hummed the elder before continued on. "And that's why I'm asking you this favor because I believe you are the right person to do this. Will you take over as our Grand Administrator?"

"Your, what now?"

"The Grand Administrator is the person who is usually appointed by the Imperial Court to levy taxes and make sure the people in the area lived well," said Aisha before she frowned. "Going by what the elder said, the previous administrator has left."

"That is correct. He left at the first sign of the Yellow Turbans along with his soldiers and we already sent word to the capital, but nothing came from the court yet. Basically, they left us to die here if it wasn't because of you and your casuals, Gaim–sama."

"I see…" I nodded.

"So can you?" The elder asked. "It would be an honor to have you as our new Grand Administrator."

"C'mon! Please? Our last one was such a sleaze and lazy to even do anything." Another villager said.

"Yeah, he'd put heavy taxes on the villagers and we barely have anything to get by to begin with!" A third said. "But with you, the Messenger of Heaven, we're now certain that our village can prosper."

That's when the villagers started urging me, saying the same thing.

I turned to Aisha and Rinrin. Both were smiling and nodding encouragingly at me. "You should accept their offer, Gaim–sama. I'm sure they will prosper under your leadership," commented Aisha as Rinrin nodded cheerfully.

"Yup! Rinrin and Aisha will help as much as we can!"

I smiled back at them before turning back to the villagers. "I'm not sure how much I can do as the Grand Administrator or what I'm supposed to do, but I will accept your offer."

The crowd cheered at that, and they sang my praises.

"Oh thank you! Thank you so much!" The Village leader said.

"Yeah! Let's work hard and rebuild this town! Let's make this the best city in the land!" Another villager shouted.

"That's right! This will be a safe city where everyone can live peacefully! Let's turn it into a grand city!"

This adventure has gotten a whole lot interesting. I don't know what's in store for me, but with the help of Aisha and Rinrin, I can get through anything. As I watched the villagers surround us expressing their joy, I made my decision. There will be no more regrets. No more doubts. I _will _become the Messenger of Heaven for the sake of those who believe in me. I will start living in this world and do what I can to learn from and appreciate it.

* * *

And there you have it guys! Chapter 2 of Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Kingdoms is officially complete! Our hero's life is going to get more interesting from now on as he decided to live in the Koihime Musou world! Now I know, it's kinda short than my usual 10,000 word plus chapter, but what's written is written. I always strive to put 10,000 words into a chapter, but sometimes, it doesn't go that way. Anyways, be sure to stay tuned for next chapter and as always, thanks for reading!


	3. The Hawawa Strategist

Hello everyone, this is Fenikkusumaru here with Vanishing Raptor, here to give you the latest chapter of Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Kingdoms! Last chapter, Kurogasa with great disgust to draw first blood from killing a person, and he realized the reality of how the world is. Now let's see how he copes with that as the new Grand Administrator of the Zhuo Disctrict! Let's go!

Disclaimer: Same thing.

* * *

Zhou District, Zhuo Commandery, Yozhou Province…

I was appointed as Grand Administrator for this area in the northeast of the continent. Ever since then, Aisha, Rinrin, and I have been working every day with the villagers to rebuild the city destroyed by the Yellow Turbans. As we did that, we destroyed the Yellow Turban party forces in the area as well. The more time I spend with the people, the more I grew attached to them. I gradually came to learn about the people of this city, and eventually the people of this world as well.

Where I'm from, light was available at the flip of a switch, and food was everywhere at convenient stores. Here in Ancient China, none of those were available. I never knew how much work it took to obtain daily food. For example, to eat rice, one must prepare a field, fill it with water, protect the rice plants from insects and diseases, and finally harvest them. It takes months of sweat and labor before one can finally harvest, then they have to offer it to the government to pay their taxes. What remains after taxes must be rationed out and consumed over the course of an entire year in order for one to survive. And for this case, when it comes to taxes, they have to offer it to me. I mean don't get me wrong, I don't mind, but with the village in shambles while making our food, I wanted them to keep their food so they can survive until the village was at least able to sustain itself.

Still, despite all this, they're all smiling. They laugh when they're happy and cry when they're sad. This enjoy this peaceful time.

As I told Aisha, seeing this people work so hard in order to survive made me realize what I've been doing my entire life. I've been living my life aimlessly in total, pure, blissful, ignorance without a care in the world… and I took everything for granted without realizing the consequences it will bring in the long run. That alone, brought me to tears and it made me feel so pathetic and weak. But now …I'm going to change my ways. Seeing the people in this world and how they persevere through these troubled times has earned them my respect. I have now found my purpose and resolve in life. I'm going to help these people and protect them from people like the Yellow Turbans.

Today I was scheduled to have a patrol with Aisha along with some soldiers on the surrounding area. Hopefully I will get this patrol done quick, because I still have some paperwork waiting for me. Paperwork… the bane of all existence, I mentally groaned at that. I now understood why most government officials were idiots. The monotonous routine and copious amount of paperwork had finally killed the rest of their brain cells, turning them into brain–dead idiots. I was now hard–pressed to do my job as Grand Administrator and my own training as Gaim with my severely packed schedule. Hey, you can have all the power in the world, but it was useless if you can't use them properly. Again, I had to thank Aisha and Rinrin for being my sparring partners in their spare time. I was happy I can go toe to toe with the famous Kan'u Unchou and Chouhi Yokutoku using my armor, but I was still severely outclassed without transforming.

I shook my head to push away my derailed thought.

"Right, time to find Aisha," I said as I looked for my trusted General. I wonder where she is.

I looked at the garden where she usually trained and found she wasn't there. I asked one of the maids I passed and found out she headed to her room earlier. Thanking the maid, I then headed to her room. "Aisha? Are you there? We need to go to patrol today." I said after I knocked on her door and entered her room.

I should've remembered to wait for her answer instead of barging in, because I was in for a view I would never forget.

Because it was _quite_ a view!

Standing with her back to me was Aisha, clad only in black stockings and panties and a portion of her large bust were revealed as her body was slightly angled.

My brain short circuited on seeing her partially naked body. Her womanly curves and her porcelain white skin were contrasting her long, lustrous black hair. Whatever doubt I had on seeing Aisha as a woman was definitely gone.

"Ah, Gaim–sama. My apologies, I was in the middle of changing when you entered the room. What can I help you with?"

Aisha's response pretty much snapped me from my thoughts as I pretty much expected she was going to scream or slap me silly. But she didn't do anything like that and thought it was something normal! What the heck?! Is this a curse or a blessing to me?!

"Bwaaah! I–I'm sorry! I–I s–should've waited for you! I–I mean, sure we have to patrol today, b–but…" I fumbled with my response as my brain wasn't entirely connected yet. Dang you hormones!

Aisha blinked as she slightly turned to me, involuntarily flashing me her… assets, much to my mortified embarrassment. "Patrol? Oh yes, we have to do patrol today, aren't we? Could you please wait outside while I finish changing my clothes?"

"E–Eh?! S–Sure! I'll be waiting! Outside, yeah!" I stuttered badly. With that I slammed the door shut and tried to calm myself down. One thing's for sure, that image will be staying for a long time.

Oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man, oh man, I can't believe what I just saw! I saw her… I saw her… GAH! I can't say it! I really can't! Dang it, I can't believe I just saw it. Me and my hormones! What the heck is wrong with me?! Okay… calm down Kurogasa… try and keep calm. Try not to think about Aisha's bu– GAH! I'm thinking about it again! Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts! Stay away bad thoughts! Stop invading my mind!

The door creaked open with Aisha clad in her usual clothes, surprising me as I jumped slightly in her presence.

"Gaim–sama? Are you alright?" asked Aisha in concern.

"Y–Yes! I–I'm alright! S–See!" I replied instantly before I tried to calm myself down. "L–Let's go, we can't waste time here."

"Certainly, Gaim–sama," replied Aisha with a smile as she followed me.

On my part, I was glad Aisha was behind me or else my mind would show _that_ image again. Gah! Curse you hormones!

* * *

**(Cue Theme Howling Soul by Rekka Katikiri)**

**(First Instrumental Section)** We see black and white flashes of a few of the girls before freezing on Kurogasa in full color, standing back to back with Gaim. Then a few more black and white flashes of the girls appearing before coming to a full color image of Koji, smirking coolly with several of his harem girls surrounding him as Baron is off to the side. The last few black and white flashes then occur as we see Souji and Daigo stand back to back, Souji looking serious and Daigo upbeat as Zangetsu and Ryugen stand by them.

**(Second Instrumental Section)** the title logo for "Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Kingdoms" appears in front of the palace before it slowly fades to change scenes. The scene changes to Kurogasa as Gaim leading the Shu forces in battle. Then, the scene changes to Koji as Baron, attacking a group of Inves with the Go forces. Lastly, the scene changes to Daigo and Souji as Ryugen and Zangetsu, protecting the Gi forces.

**(Tsumetai genjitsu nageki kodoku ni karada furuwasu) **The scene changes to a destroyed village as rain poured down. Kurogasa was sitting with his back on a destroyed wall, looking down on the ground sadly. His eyes then shifted to the Orange Lockseed in his hand, and clenched it tightly before looking up at the cloudy sky.  
**(Koko kara nigedashitai kedo sukoshi mo ugokazu ni ita)** Koji is then seen on a balcony, leaning against the railing, looking out into the night with a deep, thoughtful look on his face. He looks down briefly at the Banana Lockseed in his hand. Taking a deep breath, he turns back into the building.

**(Uzumaku sabishisa kanji kuchibiru tsuyoku kamishimeru)** In the palace courtyard, Daigo is sitting on the tree, leaning his back against the huge trunk looking bored as he looked at his Budou Lockseed while his Souji was sitting down on a chair, reading a scroll before looked up at the sky then looked back down at the table where his Melon Lockseed was.  
**(Kuyashinamida nagasu mae ni yuuki furishibori onore tsuranuke)** Suddenly, the scene changes to a town that seemed to have started to be overtaken by Helheim. As Inves surround them, Kurogasa, Koji, Daigo, and Souji nod to each other as they put on their Sengoku Drivers. Locking on their Lockseeds, they transform into Kamen Riders Gaim, Baron, Ryugen, and Zangetsu.

**(Atsuku tagiru tamashii otakebi to tomo ni tokihanate)** In the following shot, as the Kamen Riders battle against the Inves, the women prove their martial might in the fight by taking on the Inves as well, different shots showing them each in action.  
**(Kimerareta RUURU wo uchikowashite)** As the fighting continued, in the distance Kurogasa sees Saji, the man who had started it all and sent him and his friends to the Three Kingdoms world and he immediately charges at him.  
**(Kakenukero jiyuu e to)** Saji smirked evilly as he takes out his own Sengoku Driver. His Lockseed, however, is obscured because as he activates it, a flash of light overtakes the screen, making it unclear which Rider he becomes or if Kurogasa hits him.

**(Instrumental)** Kurogasa, Koji, Daigo, and Souji are seen with their armies, sitting in yukata's of the color scheme of their Rider, holding up their Lockseeds. The Musou women stand behind them at the ready with their weapons out as the title logo appears again.

* * *

Chapter 3: The Hawawa Strategist

Aisha and I were walking around the village, doing a patrol around the area to make sure that there were no hostiles like the Yellow Turbans. And also, to keep an eye for any cracks that could appear.

"So far, so good." I said to myself.

"Yes, but we have to keep our guard up." Aisha said.

"Yeah," I nodded. The two of us continued walking for a while until I decided to break the ice. "You know…"

"Hm?" Aisha asked, looking at me.

"It's been a while since we got to talk like this."

She smiled understandingly and nodded. "It's because we have our own responsibilities now, Gaim–sama. You as the Grand Administrator and me as your General."

"I guess you're right. Still, we're friends, aren't we?" I replied. "Say Aisha? Can you tell me more about yourself?"

"Eh?" Aisha blinked in confusion before she replied. "Why are you asking that, Gaim–sama?"

"Because we're friends and comrades," I replied with a blush as I scratched the back of my head. "I mean, well, we should know each other better."

Aisha chuckled at me. "Very well, but I must warn you that my life may be boring compared to yours, Gaim–sama."

"Eh, if anything my life is more boring than yours, Aisha," Kurogasa chuckled.

"I suppose," Aisha smiled gently. "Well, let's see… where to begin?"

"The beginning," I smirked.

"Oh very funny…" Aisha said, not a bit amused.

"Hey, you walked right into that one." I shrugged, still keeping a smirk on my face.

"You are a troublesome man, Gaim-sama," huffed Aisha for a moment before she smiled. "But I guess that can't be helped. My family and Rinrin's were close friends so we grew up together. You can say that we are as close as sisters can be."

"Rinrin must be as handful as she is right now," I commented with a sweat drop. I remember how handful the adolescent girl was before I shook my head and continued. "She must be very lucky to have a great older sister like you watching for her."

Aisha smiled with a slight blush on her face. "Thank you for your kind words, Gaim–sama. Anyway, yes, Rinrin is a handful when she was young as she is now. We were both trained by our sensei, a former royal guard who had retired. She taught us everything she knows about battle."

"Your sensei must be quite the person…" I commented as I recalled that Aisha and Rinrin lost their families as well as their sensei when their village was lost to the bandits. I felt slightly guilty for bringing unpleasant memories.

Aisha noticed the look on my face and smiled at me. "It's alright Gaim–sama. Sensei and everyone may be gone, but they will always live on in our memories."

"Mm…" I nodded.

"Now that I talked about myself, let's talk about you. What was your life like?" Aisha asked.

"Well, let's see…" I said, thinking about it. "I've had a decent childhood and made many friends and I was able to get by, but then…"

"What is it?" Aisha asked.

"A few years back… I… lost my parents…" I said sadly, making Aisha gasp.

"I'm sorry…"

"It's ok." I waved off.

"How did they… you know…" Aisha began.

"My father Kyoshiro, died in a work related accident. My Kaa–san, Yukina, and I were so devastated to hear of his death… especially her. In fact… she was so devastated that her health deteriorated and she got really sick to the point where she was bedridden most of the day. I had no choice but to drop out of school just so that I can take care of her as best as I could. But… in the end, she…"

Aisha placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and gently squeezed it to show her support. I replied by placing my hand on top of hers, showing my gratefulness of her support.

"After my mother passed away, I was depressed for some time until my friends gave me the right push to move forward in my life," I said with a smile, before I frowned a little. "Come to think of it, I haven't heard from them for a while."

"Did your friends also come with you to this world, Gaim–sama?" inquired Aisha.

"Yeah, there are three of them. One is Koji Shinamori, my best friend and the Nogano brothers, Souji and Daigo. The four of us were trying to stop a thief when we were sent here. I wonder where they are and what they're doing now."

"I'm sure you will meet them one day. If all of you are truly fated to be friends, then you will be reunited in the future."

I smiled at her encouragement. Like she said, we will meet one day in the future. All I can do now is do my job as the leader of the amazing people that entrusted me with this position.

"Thanks Aisha. Let's go, we still have some places to visit in our patrol route."

"Right behind you, Gaim–sama."

Aisha and I spent the rest of our patrol in comfortable silence, only throwing in comments once in a while. It was enough for us for now.

* * *

After three hours of patrolling, Aisha and I were returning back to Xizang. On the way back to the castle we stopped at a food stall to get some food. Aisha tried to argue, but I pointed out seeing how the citizens are doing is also a part of our patrol. Begrudgingly, Aisha accepted my decision and both of us sat on a bench nearby with each of us holding our own meat bun.

"You know, I could hardly believe this village was once ransacked by the Yellow Turbans," I commented as I took a bite from my meat bun.

"It's all thanks to your leadership, Gaim–sama. The villagers are now prospering under your leadership," Aisha smiled as she looked at the villagers who were busy with their own activity.

"Oh come on now, you're giving me too much credit here!" I replied scratching the back of my head in embarrassment. I then added, "Besides, it isn't me who should be praised. It's all thanks to the villagers who gave their, everything to rebuild this village to be like this."

"Well, I guess that's true." Aisha smiled.

"Guess or you know?" I asked.

"Now that would be telling, Gaim–sama," smiled Aisha teasingly. "These people are inspired by your drive to be better and so they pushed themselves to meet your expectations of them. You can see the end result here."

"I don't have any mentionable expectations to them. I just asked them to do their best to rebuild their village and if anything, I'm the one who is inspired by them," I replied as the realization struck me. "I guess what goes around, comes around, huh?"

"That it is," said Aisha as she bit into her meat bun.

The two of us watched as the villagers hustled back and forth with activity as they did so. We were about to go back to the castle when a familiar voice called out to us.

"Onii–chan! Aisha!"

We turned to see Rinrin with several kids following her, but what caught my attention was the dog she carried in her arms.

"Hey, Rinrin. What's with the dog?" I asked curiously while Aisha looked displeased at her sister figure.

"I thought you're guarding the north entrance with your unit today," Aisha frowned.

"Nyahaha, it's fine! I already told my men to continue on without me," chirped Rinrin with any care in the world.

Hearing Rinrin's response, Aisha's palm met her face and she sighed exasperatedly.

"Rinrin…"

"But seriously, what's with the dog?" I asked.

"Isn't he the cutest?!" Rinrin squealed giddy. "I found him just walking around town!"

"You sure it's okay to carry some stray dog?" I said uncertain. "I mean, for all I know, it could have rabies."

"…And what of your duty?" asked Aisha.

"Don't worry! My men are more than enough to handle the job!" Again, Rinrin waved her sister figure's concern like it was nothing.

"But you are a general! You're supposed to set an example to your men!" Aisha argued.

I sighed as I put a comforting hand on Aisha's shoulder. "Just give it up. Aisha. You know you won't win against Rinrin's argument."

"But…!" Aisha tried to protest before she gave up. "…Fine, I'll let your negligence slip today."

"Hey, Rinrin is working too!" she protested with a pout as she turned to the children who followed her. "Isn't that right, Rinrin's patrol unit?"

"Yeah!" the children cheered as one while the dog barked.

I chuckled amusedly at her. "I guess you're really working hard, huh?"

"…But they're just children and her playmates," murmured Aisha lowly.

"Yep!" replied Rinrin cheerfully before showing the dog to me. "Ne, Onii–chan. What do you think of Kourin? Isn't he cute?"

"You already named it?" asked Aisha, still trying to make sense of the situation.

"Uh–huh!" Rinrin chirped, before turning to me, "Ne, ne, Onii–chan, what do you think?"

"Well…" I said, looking at the puppy. "I'd say the name suits the dog well."

"Really?!" Rinrin beamed.

"Yeah, I think so." I nodded with a smile. Rinrin smiled as the dog barked, its tail wagging happily.

"You really shouldn't spoil her, Gaim–sama," chided Aisha.

"Hahaha, sorry. But I'm just saying the truth," I replied. "Anyway, what are you going to do with it?"

"I'm going to keep Kourin!" declared Rinrin.

"I know you will, but can you take care of it with your job as a general?"

"Of course I can!" Rinrin grinned widely.

"Rinrin!" Aisha scolded.

"Rinrin is a big girl! I can take care of Kourin!" the chibi red head insisted stubbornly.

"Then who's going to take care of it when you're away?" I prodded.

"Uh… that's…" My question put out some fire on Rinrin's argument.

"Mm–hmm. That's what I thought." I said.

"Mmmmmmmmm…" Rinrin pouted.

"Sorry Rinrin." I smiled sadly. "As much as you love that puppy to death, you're gonna have to let it go."

"But who's going to take care of Kourin?" Rinrin pouted as her eyes got wide and teary, the puppy also following suit. I tried my hardest to ignore their piteous state while Aisha also tried to look stern and chiding, but both of us were clearly failing at it.

"Hey, General Chou!" one of the children called. "You can leave your dog to us!"

Rinrin turned to her 'patrol unit'. "Eh? Really?!"

"Yup! We are the great General Chou's patrol unit! We can take care of Kourin while you're away for duty!" said another child with an enthusiastic nod.

"Really?!" Rinrin gasped.

"Yeah, just leave it to us!" A third child said.

"Aw, thanks you guys!" Rinrin thanked.

"Well, that's one problem solved." I said.

"I suppose…" Aisha sighed.

"Magistrate! Magistrate!" A voice shouted.

I turned to see a soldier sprinting at me. He stopped a few steps away from me panting to catch his breath.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I–It's the Yellow Turbans! They attacked one of our outposts in the borders!" reported the soldier urgently.

Everyone was surprised to hear the shocking news. I never thought that the Yellow Turbans would brazenly waltz into our territory like that.

"Explain in detail!" barked Aisha in all business tone.

"Ma'am! A messenger from Kousonsan's army reported that Yellow Turbans attacked an outpost at the border and is now moving deeper into our territory. Fortunately, Kousonsan–dono was on her way back to Ryousei Commandery when she received word and is now holding them off as we speak. She is also asking for reinforcements to bolster her army. If she suffers more losses, the Yellow Turbans will breach through her blockade."

"This is bad," I frowned deep in thought before I turned to Aisha and Rinrin. "Aisha, send word to our army to sortie. Take as many as we can with us, but make sure to leave enough to guard the city in our absence."

"As you wish, Gaim–sama!" replied the black haired general.

"Rinrin, you're with me to meet up with the messenger. Once we hear more from him, I want you to go to tell Aisha what we learned, okay?"

"You got it, Onii–chan!" replied the chibi red head as she handed the puppy in her arms to the nearest child.

I then turned to the soldier. "Take me and Rinrin to this messenger."

"Yes, Magistrate!" the soldier snapped a salute at him as he led Rinrin and I to meet up with the messenger.

* * *

So with that, Aisha left to rally out any men who were able to fight as Rinrin and I followed the soldier to see the messenger. From what I heard from the soldier, the messenger was taken to my HQ for medical attention as the messenger was tired from exhaustion.

By the time I arrived at the messenger's room, the village's local doctor was there with him.

"Ah, Magistrate, thanks goodness you're here." The doctor sighed in relief.

"What's his condition?" I asked walking up to the messenger's bedside with Rinrin standing next to me.

"Is he okay?" Rinrin asked.

"He is alright, although he's very tired," replied the doctor.

The messenger then turned to me. "A… Are you Kurogasa Kururugi, the Magistrate of Zhuo?"

"Yes, I am," I answered.

The messenger tried to sit up and the doctor helped him. He then handed a map to me. "Here, Kurogasa–sama. This is the map showing the location of the outpost the Yellow Turbans attacked and where Kousonsan–dono's camp is."

I took the map and opened it, studying the two marked locations on the map and frowned. The position where Kousonsan held her position was practically blocking the main road that led to Xizang as well as roads that led to the deeper part of Yozhou. So if Kousonsan's position was breached, then Xizang and other villages will be in danger.

"How many of those Yellow Turbans this time?"

"A–About 10,000 men strong, although we believed there are more of them waiting to finish us..."

I sucked a breath sharply. "This is really bad." I then turned to Rinrin. "Rinrin go get Aisha. We'll be marching out in thirty minutes, so get ready before that."

"You got it, Onii–chan!" Rinrin then quickly sprinted toward the castle.

"Thank you for your hard work. Please rest, until you feel better," I said to the messenger.

"Thank you," with that the messenger fell asleep.

"Doctor, please tend to him. I will be departing soon."

"I understand, Magistrate. May the lady of victory and fortune be with you in your endeavor."

I smiled at the doctor. "Thank you." With that, he left to prepare himself for another battle.

* * *

Rinrin and I met up with Aisha and explained the situation to her. Unsurprisingly, she was unhappy that so many Yellow Turbans would show up. She was only able to gather half the men the Yellow Turbans have, which was fine with me. We took out the Yellow Turbans with 2,000 of us against the 4,000 of them and this is no different.

After being briefed in, our army of 5,000 marched towards the outpost where Kousonsan is holding out. We've been marching for a few hours, but as we did, some of the soldiers are starting to feel a bit fatigued.

"They're slowing down a bit." I noticed as I along with Aisha and Rinrin are on horses.

Aisha frowned. "Perhaps I should have increased training regimen for our army and added more training sections in our schedule. It certainly will not do if they become tired before we engaged our enemy in battle."

"Please do, although should we recruit more people to our faction?" I mused. "There's only me and you, Aisha, who work on the paperwork and they keep on coming here…" I groaned distastefully. "Why's there so many of them anyway?"

But before she could answer, a scout I sent out earlier to assess the situation. "Magistrate, I have returned!" He shouted, kneeling on one knee before bowing his head.

"Good work soldier." I nodded. "What's the situation?" I asked.

"Sir! There is a detached force of Yellow Turbans two li ahead of our unit!" The soldier said. "The detached force is thought to be planning an attack on the farmers who immigrated, from other prefectures!"

"How many of them in detached force?" I asked.

The soldier gulped. "They are 10,000 men strong, Magistrate."

Aisha, Rinrin, and I gasped on hearing the unfortunate information.

"No way… then the one the messenger saw is only a detached force!?" I asked incredulously.

"Then they have at least twice that number as their main force," Aisha's teeth gritted in frustration. "This is really bad…"

"Ooo, now what should we do?" asked Rinrin.

I closed my eyes as I thought over the situation on hand. After getting a likely scenario, I eyes snapped open. "Good work. Now return to your unit and get ready for battle," he said to the scout.

"As you say, Magistrate."

I then turned to Aisha. "Aisha, get your personal unit ready to evacuate those farmers and get them to safety quick. After that, rejoin us fast since we can't win this without your help."

"Understood, Gaim–sama," Aisha replied before she barked the order to her personal unit.

"Rinrin, you're with me this time. We'll try to hold them off," I said to my other General.

"Got it," she nodded in affirmation.

I then turned to my soldiers, "Listen up, men! We're going to face the Yellow Turbans this time, but apparently the one we're going to face is only their detachment force. But don't let this fact shake your resolve! Stand up and fight, like we used to do! Try to keep up and survive! Once we join with Kousonsan-dono and her army, we will have the chance to fight back against their main army. The loss of your life will damage our chances to win this, so no one play hero got it?"

"Yeah!" The soldiers shouted.

"Alright, let's move in!" I said.

"All units follow us!" Rinrin shouted too.

After marching for another five minutes, the troops arrived in a clearing where we can see the farmers from the report earlier and Yellow Turbans way behind them, advancing steadily as they marched on. With a nod from me, Aisha and her personal unit quickly went to evacuate the farmers while Rinrin and I were waiting for her.

"So what's the plan, Onii–chan?" asked Rinrin as she balanced her Viper Spear on her shoulder.

"Have the archers ready. Once they are in our range, we'll be raining arrows on them," I answered before I turned to the chibi red head. "I'm counting on you to watch my back until Aisha arrives, okay Rinrin?"

Rinrin grinned as hit her puffed chest proudly. "You can count on me Onii–chan!"

I smiled at her. "Thanks."

When Rinrin looked back to the front, she squinted her eyes noticing something. "Munya? What's that?"

"Huh? What's wrong Rinrin?" I asked.

"I don't know, but…" Rinrin squinted harder before she saw clearly and panicked a bit. "Ahhhh! Onii–chan, there's a couple of stragglers! A girl and an old woman! They're being chased down by a small group of Yellow Turbans!"

"WHAT?!" I shouted.

"Oh no, and the Yellow Turbans are gaining up on them!"

"Grrr… they're not gonna make it." I growled, before I realized. "Looks like I'm gonna have to go on wheels for this one!" I then took out the LockVehicle Lockseed, L.V. 01. I unlocked the Lockseed and threw it in the air where it unfolded and grew in size, becoming a motorcycle with a cherry blossom motif, the Sakura Hurricane. I wasted no time to get off from my horse and rode on the motorcycle as Rinrin Watched curiously.

"Onii–chan? What's that?" asked Rinrin curiously.

"I'll explain later! I'm going to rescue them first! Rinrin, have our army follow me!" I said as I donned the helmet provided and turned on the engine.

The loud roar caught Rinrin and the army off guard, but I ignored them and rode the Sakura Hurricane to help those stragglers. I wasn't an expert on bike riding, but I played enough racing games to help me ride a real motorcycle.

As I sped away, Rinrin called out to the army. "You heard what Onii–chan said! Let's move it, people!"

* * *

_Shokatsuryou Koumei was panting hard as she was running away from the Yellow Turbans together with an elderly lady she helped earlier. She certainly wasn't expecting that the Turbans will attack the village where she was resting, considering it fell to the territory of the Messenger of Heaven Kururugi of Zhuo– better known as Kamen Rider Gaim. After his arrival, Koumei decided she was going to help him as his vassal. She was the student of Shibaki Suikyou and she had learned many things from her such as such as politics, economics, geography, agriculture, and war strategies from her. She wanted to put her power into good use and the Messenger of Heaven certainly sounded as a good choice._

_But as luck would have it, she can't do that because as said earlier, she's helping an elder lady and the worst part is, the Yellow Turbans were catching up._

_"Hawaah, hawaah, hawaah, hawaah…" Shokatsuryou panicked._

_"Oh dear…" The elder lady said tiredly. "I can't go any further…"_

_"Ma'am, you have to pull through!" Shokatsuryou cried out._

_"I can't…" The elder woman said sadly. "This old body of mine can't go on. You must flee dear. Save yourself!"_

_"No! I'm not leaving you behind!" The girl said. "I'm getting you out of here!"_

_"But…"_

_"No buts! Please elder! Just a little more!" urged the petite blonde._

_The women looked at her in awe as she felt herself invigorated by her encouragement. "Thank you, dear child. Thank you for helping these old bones."_

_"It's all I can do for you, ma'am. Now let's get to safety!" said Shokatsuryou with a smile._

_A loud roaring noise made her turn and saw a helmeted man riding a strange two wheeled contraption. The weird thing about it was there was no horse pulling it and yet it was coming her way._

_"Hawawa…! W–What is t–that thing?! Is it an enemy?!" she asked in panic and saw the army following behind. "H–He has an army too!?"_

_"Oh no…" the old lady fell to her knees as the strength left her. "We're done for…"_

_The rider and his ride stopped several paces from Shokatsuryou and the elder. He got off from the contraption and removed his helmet, revealing his brown hair and blue eyes, before placing the helmet on the vehicle and approached them._

* * *

"Thank goodness, I made it! Hey! Are you alright?" I asked

"H–Hawawa…W–We awe awight…! I–I mean, w–we're alright!" stuttered the girl as she corrected herself. "So… Um, t–thank you…" she relaxed a bit, knowing that I wasn't going to harm her or the elder.

"It's alright. I'm glad you're alright," I replied as I looked at the elder and the young girl. Looking at the girl closer, she was a petite girl with short blond hair and has maroon eyes. She wore a maroon beret with a big green ribbon to the side and has a maroon jacket that covered her white and blue dress tied around by a green ribbon. She also had long white socks, blue shoes, and yellow bells on her shoes and jacket too.

"So… why were you falling behind?" I asked curiously. "I already sent a rescue unit to pick up the farmers from earlier, so I guess I have to ask the captain to have some of his men escort you from here."

"Please don't blame the young lady, young man. We're left behind because of me and the young lady insisted to help me," said the elder.

"Is that so?" I asked. "The girl nodded shyly as she blushed. "Thank you for your hard work. I'm going to get my men to escort you to safety." I then turned to see Aisha and her unit rejoining the army. "Oh boy, Aisha is going to chew me because I went on ahead like that…"

The girl then saw the flags of my army. Some of them bore the character for Kan and Chou. There are also flags that didn't have a character on them, but an emblem of a sword imposed over a circle. Her purple eyes widened as she recognized that emblem.

"Y–Y–You're the Messenger of Heaven?!" The girl asked.

"Huh?" I asked, before I looked at what the girl saw and realized what she meant by that. "Oh, uh… yeah, I guess." I laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head.

"Oh… t–thank goodness." The girl sighed in relief. "I finally m–meet you."

"Who are you exactly?" I asked.

"A–Ano…" The girl stuttered. "M–My last name is Shokatsu. My first name i–is Ryou. A–A–And my common name is Koumei."

…

…

…

…

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"

"HUAAAAAAAAH?!" The girl cried out in surprise. "W–W–What is it?!"

I pointed at the girl as my eye twitched while trembling. "U–U–Uso darou! B–Bakana! A–Arienai! Y–Y–You're _THE_ Shokatsuryou Koumei?!" No freaking way! The greatest strategist of the Three Kingdoms is a little girl too?!

"Y–Yes, t–that's correct. I–I am Shokatsuryou Koumei," answered Shokatsuryou as she looked at me curiously. "A–Ano… where have you heard of me, if I may ask?"

"I–It's a long story…" Now I really need to not be so surprised anymore. If Kan'u was a beautiful girl while Chouhi and Shokatsuryou were little girls, I shouldn't be so surprised at anyone or anything anymore. Who knows what Sousou Motoku could be in this world? A twin–tailed blonde loli?

"Gaim–sama!" Aisha's voice returned me from my overly reacting mind to reality.

"H–Huh?!" I asked startled before noticing Aisha rushing towards me. "Oh, Aisha!"

"What are you doing all the way back here?" She asked. "You were supposed to wait for me!"

"Sorry, Aisha." I said sheepishly. "There's an explanation for that."

"Oh? Explain then," said Aisha, her face was set into an angry frown. "You could've been in danger, Gaim–sama! You may have your armor, but what if the enemy took that away from you? You would be helpless!"

"I'm sorry," I apologized, feeling a little bad for making Aisha worry like that. "But I can't help it! I planned to take Shokatsuryou-san and the elder on my Sakura Hurricane to safety!"

Aisha blinked at that. "You… were going to what?"

"I'm taking the little girl and elder to safety. There were falling behind and I didn't want anything bad happening to them." I explained.

"A–Ano…" Shokatsuryou said timidly.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Eeto… y–you can take the elder to safety. I–I want to stay with you."

"WHAT?!" Aisha and I asked incredulously.

"I–I come from my teacher's lodging far in the mountain just to meet with the Messenger of Heaven so I can offer my service to him!" answered Shokatsuryou determinedly. "Now that I've met him, I really want to use what my teacher taught me to help him change the country!"

"But what can you do?" asked Aisha. "Please just get to safety! The Yellow Turbans are almost upon us!"

I looked at Shokatsuryou. She was nervous, I could tell, but she was dead set to help he. If she really _is_ Shokatsuryou Koumei, then she _should_ be able to make a strategy for this battle to minimize the loss of my army before we join up with Kousonsan's army.

"Shokatsuryou–san," I called. "Do you really want to stay and help me?"

"Gaim–sama!" exclaimed Aisha in surprise.

"Y–Yes, I do!" answered Shokatsuryou.

"Then I ask you to arrange a plan for me and my army in this battle," I replied. "We have 5,000 men and the Turbans have 10,000 from the reports. We need to minimize our losses so we can join up with Kousonsan's army and take on their main army as this is only their detached force."

"Yes, right away!" answered Shokatsuryou instantly, all the trace of nervousness left her as she went to think. Shokatsuryou placed on hand on her chin with her free hand supporting the elbow of her other hand as her feet rhythmically tapped the ground. I can practically hear the gears in her head were working to hatch a plan for this battle. Not even a minute later she looked at me with bright expression.

"I have the plan, Messenger of Heaven," said Shokatsuryou.

"That was fast," I commented in surprise. Beside me, Aisha and Rinrin were also surprised. "And you can either call me by my name Kurogasa Kururugi or my title Gaim. Please go on, Shokatsuryou–san."

"Y–Yes, Gaim–sama," replied the blonde with a blush before she straightened up and began to explain her plan. "Even if the Yellow Turbans have superior numbers, there are several weaknesses that you can exploit. The First is that the Yellow Turbans never used any kind of strategy or formation in their battles, only using their numerical advantage as their only strategy. The second is that the Yellow Turbans are consisted of farmers and bandits that have no military training so to speak. The third is that their resources are looted from their raids, so it's expected that their weapons' quality is somewhat poor."

She paused a little before continuing. "Considering the layout of the land, we can use the Twin Column formation to trap them in a two–front battle and wear them off before finishing."

Aisha spotting the flaw of her plan interrupted, "But we don't have enough men to use that formation."

"I'm aware of that, however there is another plan that will achieve the same result," replied Shokatsuryou with a slightly confident smile. "Using the pincer tactic with Gaim–sama and his unit, he will lead the main part of the army to engage the Yellow Turbans directly and create a diversion for the pincer squad lead by General Kan'u and General Chouhi to ambush with. Theoretically, with the three pronged attack, the forces of Yellow Turban will fall into confusion and disarray to allow your army to defeat them with minimal loss."

Wow, for a girl that claims to be Shokatsuryou Koumei, she's really smart.

"That's actually really good planning right there." I praised, making the girl strategist blush.

"T–Thank you…" She said shyly.

"Gaim–sama, are you sure that plan would work?" Aisha asked.

"I'm sure." I nodded with a grin. "So let's not waste any more time!" I then took out my Sengoku Driver and placed it on my waist, and the belt wrapped around me, locking it into place. I then took out my Orange Lockseed.

"Th–That's–" Shokatsuryou got out.

"Henshin!" I shouted before opening the Lockseed.

**ORANGE!**

The zipper portal opened up from above me as the metal orange slowly descended down above my head much to the girl's surprise. I then placed the Orange Lockseed into the Drive Bay then closed the lock to secure it into the Lock On Arm.

**LOCK ON!**

The Japanese techno warlord horn sounded before I pressed down the Cutting Blade to slice open the Lockseed.

**SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS! HANAMICHI ON STAGE!**

The metal orange dropped onto my shoulder and I felt my body ripple with energy, forming into the bodysuit, before the Orange Arms disassembled, forming my armor and showing my helmet and the Musou Saber and Daidaimaru were now equipped on me.

"A–Amazing… so the rumors are true…" whispered Shokatsuryou in no small amount of surprise and awe. She just watched me, the Messenger of Heaven summon an Orange from the heavens itself and it turned into an, armor for me. Now she was convinced that I am the famed Messenger of Heaven from Zhuo, Kamen Rider Gaim.

I looked at the petite blonde and smiled behind my mask before I turned at my soldiers and yelled out my order. "Alright, listen up! We're going to fight with the Yellow Turbans again, but this time we will try something different! Aisha, Rinrin!"

"Yes, Gaim–sama!" replied the both of them in unison.

"As planned by Shokatsuryou–san, we will put them in a pincer maneuver. Lead your units and flank them! We're going to hit them hard!"

"Understood, Gaim–sama!" replied Aisha dutifully.

"You got it, Onii–chan!" replied Rinrin with equal seriousness.

"The rest of you are with me and we will meet them head on! Are you with me?!"

"YEEEAAAHHHH!"

I nodded before turning to the captain of his personal squad. "Have some of our men lead the elder here to safety."

"Alright, Gaim–sama," he nodded before choosing his men to escort the lady. "Ma'am, please follow my men. They will take you to safety."

"Thank you," said the elder before she turned to me. "Thank you again for saving this old lady, Gaim–sama. May fortune be with you in this battle."

"You're welcome, Ma'am," I then turned to Shokatsuryou. "Shokatsuryou-san, I know this is a little sudden but will you take command of my archers for this battle?"

"E–Eh?! M–Me?!" asked Shokatsuryou in surprise.

"Gaim–sama/Onii–chan?!" Aisha and Rinrin asked shocked.

"Yeah, of course. With a smart brain like yours, I'd definitely trust you with using the archers."

"A–Are you sure?" She asked.

"Yes Gaim–sama, _are_ you sure?" Aisha asked.

"Yes, I'm sure. I trust her." I said.

"O–Okay…" Shokatsuryou said. "A–Ano, can you do one thing for me though?"

"What is it?" I asked.

"P–Please call me by my true name. I–It's Shuri."

Well that makes things easier. The name Shokatsuryou admittedly is a mouthful to say. "Alright, you got it Shuri–san."

"T–Thank you! I–I promise I will do my–my best!" replied Shuri with a shy smile and blushing face.

I then shouted to my archers, "Archers, listen up! You will be under the command of my new general, Shokatsuryou Koumei. Make sure you follow her orders to the letter! You understand?!"

"Yes, Gaim–sama!"

"Good, now let me clear up things a little. Try your best to survive in this battle! Every single of you will mean a lot for our battle against the Turban's main force with Kousonsan-dono and your loss will decrease the chance of victory, so no one play hero, you hear me!?"

"LOUD AND CLEAR, GAIM–SAMA!" the soldiers cried as one.

"Alright! Let's show those bandits our brand of hospitality!"

With Aisha and Rinrin's unit placed in position to flank their enemy, I and my army waited with baited breath for the Yellow Turbans to enter our range. Shuri and her archers were waiting on the center and the back of our formation. I'm sure Shuri will do fine with her archers. Despite her shy personality, she was no doubt one of the brightest minds in the Three Kingdoms era.

When they entered our range, I heard Shuri relay her first order. "Archers, please load your arrows and draw your bows! Aim for the Yellow Turbans' army. Fire!"

Her orders were crisp and clear, without a hint of nervousness. That girl must be trying really hard for this. And true to her orders, waves of arrow struck true to their targets and eliminating a great deal of the Yellow Turbans. The Turbans were caught off guard with the attack, causing their already unorganized army to fall into even more disarray and confusion.

Seeing the chance to attack, I shouted, "Alright people, General Shokatsuryou already gave an opening for us! Let's do it!"

The Zhuo army rallied under my command and charged at the panicking Yellow Turbans, especially when they saw me leading them into battle.

"If you have what it takes to dance with me, then come!" I yelled as I struck the first Turbans I encountered without any hesitation.

"O–Oh no!" One of the Turbans cried out. "It's that Orange armor guy the boys told us about!"

"No way, are you serious?!" Another cried out.

"Oh please, I'm not always an orange!" I said, before taking out the Orange Lockseed and taking out another one. "I can change into a different fruit if you'd like!" I then opened up the Lockseed.

**ICHIGO!**

At that point, my Orange Arms disappeared into motes of light and a zipper portal opened up to reveal a red metal strawberry hovering and slowly descending down towards me. I placed the Ichigo Lockseed in the Drive Bay and locked it in place.

**LOCK ON!**

The techno war horn sounded and I sliced the Lockseed open with the Cutting Blade, revealing the inside. The top half revealed the insides of a strawberry while the bottom half revealed three kunai.

**SOIYA! ICHIGO ARMS! SHUSHUTTO SPARK!**

The Orange Arms and Daidaimaru disappeared in orange sparkles and Ichigo Arms descended. It looked like a giant metallic strawberry complete with its stem of leaves on the top. Its bottom part folded to right side as it fell on my shoulders and the folded bottom part became my right shoulder armor. The Ichigo Arms then opened and disassembled. Its top and left part folded in half, becoming my left shoulder armor with its green stem poking outward. The back and right part folded together and grayed out as it became the back armor while the front part flipped down to become a red chest plate with black highlights and metal studs. My helmet also changed to be red with metal studs like my armor while the head decoration on the sides looked like half of strawberries with green stem leaves on top. The armor created another splash effect as my visor lit up with red light, resembling a half strawberry slice. A pair of kunai with the strawberry emblem appeared on my hands- the Arms Weapon for Ichigo Arms, was the Ichigo Kunai.

"He's a Strawberry now!?" exclaimed a surprised Yellow Turban.

"Let's see how you like this!" I shouted.

Using the speed advantage the Ichigo Arms gave me, I struck one Turban after another with the pair of kunai. I slashed another Turban and saw some of them trying to surround me. I threw the kunai from my hands and struck them as they detonated, killing the Turbans. The other Turbans froze and hesitated attacking me as it appeared my daggers can explode like that, but some of them went to attack me anyway seeing as I was disarmed.

I instinctively reached for the back of my waist and took out another set of kunai, three on each hand, before throwing them at the Turbans, killing them again as they exploded on hit.

"Where did he get those knives!?" yelled a Turban in disbelief.

"Huh, so they really _do_ come in infinite number," I mumbled as I drew out my Musou Saber and one Ichigo Kunai before I charged forward, killing more of Yellow Turbans with each of my slashes.

"Ah, we're gonna get creamed!" One of the Yellow Turbans shouted.

"Keep fighting! Keep fighting!" Another shouted.

"We can't! That fruit armored guy is going to kill us!"

Alright, these guys are in complete disarray. We just have to keep up with the attack and we'll be good in no time. So to speed things along, I threw my one Ichigo Kunai at a Yellow Turban before I opened up the Lockseed, taking it out of the Sengoku Driver and locking it into place in the Musou Saber.

**LOCK ON! 1! 10! 100! ICHIGO CHARGE!**

I slashed my Musou Saber up forward, sending a giant strawberry construct which changed into a giant version of the Ichigo Kunai then burst into multiple copies of Ichigo Kunai, raining down on the ranks of Yellow Turbans, exploding on each hit and killing many of them.

"Alright! Let's mow them down men!" I rallied to my army, increasing their morale as they charged at the panicking Yellow Turbans.

Arrows then fired from the rear line, no doubt it was Shuri's doing. In one volley, they had struck down so many Turbans. From their expression, their morale was on the all–time low so I wasn't going to let this chance slip away. I will win this battle!

* * *

Meanwhile…

_Somewhere away from the battle, a Crack opened up, letting an Inves come out from the zipper like portal. This Inves was the Seiryu Inves. It had an olive green skin having the head of an eastern dragon and its body was covered in thick skin armor of olive green and rusted brass all over, having curved spike protrusions on its shoulders and back._

_The Seiryu Inves growled and snarled as it looked around, sniffing the air, until its nose caught the scent of something. The scent of a Mature Lockseed. With that, the portal closed and the Seiryu Inves ran towards its destination of looking for the Mature Lockseed in hopes of eating it for itself._

* * *

Aisha and Rinrin's unit had joined the battle and put the Yellow Turbans in a Three–front battle. Between Aisha's skills with her Green Dragon Blade, Rinrin's ridiculous strength, my swiftness in Ichigo Arms, and the plan Shuri made, the battle was surely going into our favor. Aisha's graceful movements were both beautiful and deadly as many Yellow Turbans were left dead in the wake of her deadly dance while Rinrin made many Yellow Turbans soar to the air with her strength. I marveled them as I struck down several Turbans with my Musou Saber and Ichigo Kunai before throwing the latter at a Turban who tried to ambush me, killing the bandit as the Kunai hit him.

"Ready? Aim? FIRE!" I heard Shuri shot and the archers released their arrows on the Yellow Turbans hitting them dead on with great accuracy and making sure they didn't hit their own troops.

Everything was going well until someone shouted.

"AAAAH! A MONSTER!"

The shout surprised Aisha, Rinrin, and I. We turned to see something tearing through the rank of Yellow Turbans. A roar was heard before a stream of flames burned several unfortunate Turbans. As the bandits cleared away from it, I saw the familiar figure of the Seiryu Inves.

"An Inves!? Again!?" I asked incredulously.

"That thing is also an Inves, Gaim–sama?" asked Aisha as she kept close to me.

"Yeah, a Seiryu Inves. But how is that thing here!?" I was confused, how did those Inves keep coming to this world like that? Was Helheim tried to invade this world too?

"Nyaa? That thing isn't blue," commented Rinrin on seeing the color of the Inves.

"That doesn't matter," I replied as I sheathed my Musou Saber and reached for another Lockseed clipped on the side of my belt, the Pine Lockseed. If this Inves was anything like the Seiryu Inves from the series, then it will have a sturdy body. "Keep the soldiers away from that Inves. I'm going to destroy it before it hurts our army."

Aisha looked at me for a moment before nodding. "Very well. Please leave the Yellow Turbans to me and Rinrin while you focus on the Inves."

"Thanks, Aisha," I replied before I unlocked the Pine Lockseed.

**PINE!**

But before I could do anything else, as soon as I took out the Ichigo Lockseed, the Seiryu Inves headed straight towards me and gave me a couple slashes with its claws before punching me hard and sending me flying a couple feet while dropping my Ichigo Lockseed.

"Gaim–sama!" Aisha cried out.

"Onii–chan!" Rinrin shouted, before the two ran over to me.

"Get off of me, you dragon reject!" I growled.

Suddenly, a crack appeared above me and the Pine Arms, which looked like a giant metallic pineapple complete with its leaves on the top, immediately dropped, smashing into the Seiryu Inves. It recoiled by the sudden attack and I seized the moment to kick it off from me. I immediately stood up and wasted no time to place the Pine Lockseed into the Sengoku Driver.

**LOCK ON!**

I then sliced it open. Its core revealed to be a pineapple slice and the lid back cover showed a morning star which resembled a pineapple.

**SOIYA!**

The Ichigo Arms armor disappeared in sparkles of red light as the Pine Arms bounced on the ground before landing squarely on my shoulder. It then disassembled as the top and side portions lowered to become my shoulder guards with square pointed studs. Its front and back section folded in half, the former becoming a studded yellow chest plate with black highlights and the latter graying out, becoming back armor. My helmet attachment changed to yellow with the same squared, pointed studs on the back with pineapple leaves on the top and sides and my visor now lit up in a yellow light, resembling the half of a pineapple slice and my Arms Weapon, was a chain flail with the shape of a pineapple, appeared on my hand, dubbed the Pine Iron.

**PINE ARMS! FUNSAI DESTROY!**

"Look for the Ichigo Lockseed! Find it before another Inves gets through or the Turbans get their hands on it!" I ordered as I twirled my Pine Iron.

"Yes, Gaim–sama!" replied Aisha as she went to look for her my possession while she was killing the Yellow Turbans.

"You got it, Gaim–niichan!" Rinrin replied with the same intent.

Meanwhile, the Seiryu Inves spewed out blue flames at me and I swung my Pine Iron a few times to block those flames.

"I don't think so!" I shouted before swinging again and throwing the Pine Iron at the Seiryu Inves, hitting its armor and making it roar in pain. "Yosh! I got him!" I said before charging in and swinging again at the Inves. The Inves tried to dodge the attacks by weaving between them, but I managed to hit it several times and cause considerable damage to it. I then twisted my upper body as I swung the Pine Iron with all the strength I could muster and extended the chains. The chained flail smashed to Inves' body painfully.

The Seiryu Inves fell and rolled on the ground. It tried to stand up, but my last hit had definitely took, a toll on it.

Meanwhile Aisha struck down another Yellow Turban who got in her way before she found the Ichigo Lockseed on the ground. She quickly picked it up and locked it before another Inves got through.

"Gaim–sama! I found your Lockseed!" she called out as she showed the said item to me.

"Great! Thanks Aisha!" I replied before I noticed the Seiryu Inves trying to make a go on her. "Oh no, you don't!" I swung the Pine Iron and restricted the Inves with the chains of my Pine Iron tugging on it strongly. "Keep it on you for this battle! I'm taking it later when we're finished with this battle!"

"Understood!" replied Aisha as she pocketed the Lockseed into her skirt's pocket before she ducked an attack from a Turban who tried to sneak on her and killed him.

"And as for you," I said to the Seiryu Inves. "It's time to finish you off for good!" I then yanked the Pine Iron's chain, making the Inves spin in its place to make it feel disoriented.

I quickly reached for the Cutting Blade and pushed it down once.

**SOIYA! PINE SQUASH!**

I jumped to the air and kicked the Pine Iron toward the still recovering Inves as it grew in size and attached itself on the Inves' head. It futilely tried to get it off, but I was already on it with my right leg extended, glowing with yellow energy and my other was tucked.

"KUURRAAAAAEEEEE!" I yelled as I kicked the Inves and it exploded, sending pineapple slices in all directions. After finishing off the Seiryu Inves, I retrieved the Pine Iron and drew my Musou Saber before connecting them together to activate the Kusarigama mode.

"Alright, you bandits have two options. Run while you can or keep fighting against my army. Now which one do you choose?" I asked as I twirled the Pine Iron.

Some of the bandits hesitated while some of them charged at me. I dodged their attack before bashing one Turban with the Pine Iron before slashing another with Musou Saber. "So much for the peaceful solution…" I sighed before I intercepted the Turbans.

"Gaim–sama!" Aisha shouted as she ran towards me and slashed a Yellow Turban bandit with her Green Dragon Crescent Blade. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I assured. "I was able to destroy the Seiryu Inves. Is the Ichigo Lockseed safe?"

"I still have it."

"Good, then let's take out these bandits!" I said.

"I'm with you Gaim–sama!" Aisha nodded before the two of us charged towards the Yellow Turbans. I swung the Pine Iron towards a bandit then slashed another with the Musou Saber. The Yellow Turbans were really in disarray and panic.

"That guy's too strong!" One shouted.

"We can't beat him!" Another one yelled.

"Run away!" A third wailed.

Alright, we got them on the run, but some of them still stayed behind to fight seeing as how we're getting the best of them. I might as well finish them off. You know… this give me an idea. I wonder what happens when I do a hissatsu attack with the Pine Iron connected to the Musou Saber. It didn't show in the series so this is a good chance to see it!

With that in mind, I took out the Pine Lockseed from my Sengoku Driver and locked it in the Musou Saber.

**LOCK ON! 1! 10! 100! 1,000! 10,000!**

I twirled the Pine Iron as it glowed with yellow energy and twirled it more as the glow intensified. The bandits were wary of this phenomenon and decided to attack me before I could do anything. I then swung the Pine Iron wide as it shot several energy bolts that struck the bandits. The bolts then turned into giant pineapple energy constructs that trapped the bandits inside. They tried to escape by breaking the construct from inside, but I already brought my Musou Saber across my chest as the blade was covered with a yellow flaming aura.

**PINE CHARGE!**

"SEEEEIIIIIHAAAAA!" I yelled as I slashed the Musou Saber in a wide arc, causing a yellow energy wave to strike the pineapple constructs. For a second, the constructs seemed to slide along the cut slightly before they exploded, sending pineapple slices in all directions.

"And that takes care of that," I said with a sigh as I relaxed my stance slightly. I then looked around to see the remaining bandits flee, not wanting to be killed by me, the Messenger of Heaven.

"Gaim–sama! We did it!" said Aisha happily.

"Yeah! We showed them who's boss!" grinned Rinrin.

"Gaim–sama!" called Shuri as she hurriedly approached me. "W–We d–did it! We drove the Yellow Turbans away!"

"Yeah, and it's thanks to you, Shuri," said Gaim as he closed the Lockseed and reverted to his civilian form.

"O–Oh, it's nothing really…" Shuri blushed slightly.

"Nothing? That was definitely something." I said before patting her head with a smile. "Not only did the pincer attack work, we kept casualties to a bare minimum too. You did very well."

"Hehehe… you patted my head…" Shuri giggled, liking it.

"Of course, you did a very good job." I said before turning to my army. "Victory is ours!"

"UOOOOOOOOOOOOH!" My army cheered.

"Alright let's save the celebration for later, we still have to fight against the Yellow Turban's main army," I said as the army stopped cheering. "So move it people! Carry the wounded and the dead with you so we can tally them later at Kousonsan's camp. Hopefully Kousonsan will let us rest before we deal with the Yellow Turbans."

The army roared their affirmative before I turned to my officers. "Alright girls, let's go. We have someone important to meet."

"Hai, Gaim–sama!" said Aisha, Rinrin, and Shuri as one.

The Zhuo army then carried their wounded and dead comrades with them as we continued our march toward Kousonsan's camp. Hopefully, we can form an alliance after this battle.

* * *

And there you have it people! That's another chapter down of Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Kingdoms! Sorry, it took a while, but my coauthor Vanishing Raptor was sick and he couldn't do much so I had to wait until he was better. But it was definitely worth it seeing that this chapter is done. Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed it and always thanks for reading!


	4. The Yellow Turban Rebellion

Hey there people! This is Fenikkusumaru here and Vanishing Raptor are here to give you the latest chapter of Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Kingdoms! I know this chapter is short and all, and I apologize that it took long, but hey it's here now and this is all we can come up with. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy it as much as Vanishing Raptor and I did writing it.

Disclaimer: Same thing.

* * *

Now that their detached unit was defeated, we reorganize our formations. Aisha, Rinrin, and our new friend, Shuri aka Shokatsuryou Koumei were walking towards Kousonsan's camp while the army was carrying the injured and dead soldiers along the way too so we can count how many casualties we had as we made our way towards there.

"Huh… no matter how far we go, it's always the same scenery…" I sighed.

"How can you be so relaxed? We're about to enter a battlefield." Aisha deadpanned with a sweat drop.

"Heh, heh, warui na… I can't help it." I laughed sheepishly.

"You're not mentally prepared at all." Rinrin pouted.

"I certainly don't want to hear that from _you_…" I frowned.

"Heehee! Rinrin is always mentally prepared!" Rinrin grinned.

Always mentally prepared huh? Let's test that out, "Oh look, a dog…" I said.

"HUH?!" Rinrin asked excitedly and looked around wildly. "A puppy?! Where's the puppy?!" She shouted, but then realized what just happened, "…Ah."

"I rest my case." I smirked with amusement.

"Muu~! Onii–chan is a meanie!" pouted Rinrin.

"Ahahaha… Everyone is so relaxed," laughed Shuri.

"Haaa… Seriously…" Aisha heaved a long sigh in return.

"But this could be a good thing," commented Shuri, prompting me and the others to look at her questioningly. "I mean, if the leaders are in a good mood, then it will increase the morale of our army."

I scratched my chin and hummed thoughtfully. "Hmm… You're right, Shuri. It'll be the best if we keep everyone's morale at an all–time high so they can perform better."

"Exactly," smiled Shuri happily.

"But that doesn't mean you can goof off like that, Gaim–sama, Rinrin," chided Aisha.

"I'm not goofing off. It's _Rinrin_ goofing off." I said.

"What are you talking about?" Rinrin huffed. "Rinrin doesn't goof off!"

"Uh–huh, _sure_ you don't."

"It's true!"

"Gaim–sama! Rinrin! Please focus!" Aisha scolded before the argument could start.

"Sorry, Aisha," I apologized with my head ducked low.

"Sorry, Aisha–oneechan," mumbled Rinrin under her breath.

"When I say for the leaders in a good mood, this is not what I meant," commented Shuri with a sweat drop.

"Haaaah…" Aisha sighed again in response.

* * *

**(Cue Theme Howling Soul by Rekka Katakiri)**

**(First Instrumental Section)** We see black and white flashes of a few of the girls before freezing on Kurogasa in full color, standing back to back with Gaim. Then a few more black and white flashes of the girls appearing before coming to a full color image of Koji, smirking coolly with several of his harem girls surrounding him as Baron is off to the side. The last few black and white flashes then occur as we see Souji and Daigo stand back to back, Souji looking serious and Daigo upbeat as Zangetsu and Ryugen stand by them.

**(Second Instrumental Section)** the title logo for "Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Kingdoms" appears in front of the palace before it slowly fades to change scenes. The scene changes to Kurogasa as Gaim leading the Shu forces in battle. Then, the scene changes to Koji as Baron, attacking a group of Inves with the Go forces. Lastly, the scene changes to Daigo and Souji as Ryugen and Zangetsu, protecting the Gi forces.

**(Tsumetai genjitsu nageki kodoku ni karada furuwasu) **The scene changes to a destroyed village as rain poured down. Kurogasa was sitting with his back on a destroyed wall, looking down on the ground sadly. His eyes then shifted to the Orange Lockseed in his hand, and clenched it tightly before looking up at the cloudy sky.  
**(Koko kara nigedashitai kedo sukoshi mo ugokazu ni ita)** Koji is then seen on a balcony, leaning against the railing, looking out into the night with a deep, thoughtful look on his face. He looks down briefly at the Banana Lockseed in his hand. Taking a deep breath, he turns back into the building.

**(Uzumaku sabishisa kanji kuchibiru tsuyoku kamishimeru)** In the palace courtyard, Daigo is sitting on the tree, leaning his back against the huge trunk looking bored as he looked at his Budou Lockseed while his Souji was sitting down on a chair, reading a scroll before looked up at the sky then looked back down at the table where his Melon Lockseed was.  
**(Kuyashinamida nagasu mae ni yuuki furishibori onore tsuranuke)** Suddenly, the scene changes to a town that seemed to have started to be overtaken by Helheim. As Inves surround them, Kurogasa, Koji, Daigo, and Souji nod to each other as they put on their Sengoku Drivers. Locking on their Lockseeds, they transform into Kamen Riders Gaim, Baron, Ryugen, and Zangetsu.

**(Atsuku tagiru tamashii otakebi to tomo ni tokihanate)** In the following shot, as the Kamen Riders battle against the Inves, the women prove their martial might in the fight by taking on the Inves as well, different shots showing them each in action.  
**(Kimerareta RUURU wo uchikowashite)** As the fighting continued, in the distance Kurogasa sees Saji, the man who had started it all and sent him and his friends to the Three Kingdoms world and he immediately charges at him.  
**(Kakenukero jiyuu e to)** Saji smirked evilly as he takes out his own Sengoku Driver. His Lockseed, however, is obscured because as he activates it, a flash of light overtakes the screen, making it unclear which Rider he becomes or if Kurogasa hits him.

**(Instrumental)** Kurogasa, Koji, Daigo, and Souji are seen with their armies, sitting in yukata's of the color scheme of their Rider, holding up their Lockseeds. The Musou women stand behind them at the ready with their weapons out as the title logo appears again.

* * *

Chapter 4: The Yellow Turban Rebellion

After a while of marching, we finally arrived at Kousonsan's encampment which was two li east of where we battled against the Yellow Turban detachment force. When we got to camp, we let our soldiers rest. While that happened, we counted the number of casualties we had for our army. Sadly, about 926 men lost their lives, but their sacrifice will not be vain.

Still, at we have at least a little above four–fifths of the army alive if you counted the injured being tended to. While the army rested, Shuri and I decided to meet Kousonsan to have a war council. To be honest, I was kinda nervous.

"A–Are you nervous?" Shuri asked, as we walked towards the main tent.

"How could I not?" I asked back. "I never met Kousonsan before. I don't know what the person's like."

"J–Just try to be yourself, Gaim–sama," advised Shuri. "When meeting with another lord, it will be best to show your real personality than a false one. By showing them your honesty, they will be more inclined to respect you."

"Be myself, huh…" I pondered on Shuri's advice. I thought over it a moment before I smiled. "You're right, Shuri. It will be the best to show my real self to them. After all, honor and honesty are highly regarded, right?"

"Right!" Shuri smiled.

"Alright, thanks Shuri." I smiled patting her head making her blush.

"Hehehe…" Shuri smiled. "You patted my head again…"

"You really like that don't you." I said.

"Y–Yes…" Shuri blushed.

The two of us continued to walk until we arrived at the main tent. After telling the guard my name, Shuri and I went in the main tent and when we did, I was surprised to see that Kousonsan was a woman!

She was wearing sleeveless, pink Chinese–style tunic underneath white body armor and black skirt. She was also wearing pink detached sleeves with white arm guard and pink boots with white mid–thigh length white socks. The clothes she wore were decorated with yellow trims. Her eyes were yellow and her red hair was done into ponytail which was held by a white and gold crown–like hair decoration. A sheathed straight sword was hung on her hips.

Kousonsan noticed Shuri and I coming and decided to approach us.

"Oh? You must be the Messenger of Heaven," said Kousonsan as she looked over me looking from top to bottom as if I was rare animal.

I straightened my posture and replied to the General firmly. "That's right. My name is Kurogasa Kururugi, the Chief Magistrate of Zhuo."

Kousonsan nodded approvingly. "My name is Kousonsan Hakukei. Thank you for coming and you're a big help to us."

"You're welcome. Now can you tell anything about the Yellow Turbans that will attack us?" I asked.

"Yes. I can." Kousonsan said, getting into serious node before she pointed on the map that's om the table. "As you can see here, the Yellow Turbans are encamped here. One of my scouts reported that the main Yellow Turban force consists of 25,000 men."

"25,000 men?!" I gawked.

"T–That's not good." Shuri said worriedly.

"We only have with us at least a fifth of that number!" I added.

"I only have a little more than 5m000 men with me," admitted Kousonsan with a frown before she added. "Even worse, the Turbans will arrive in two hours according to my scouts."

"Together, we only have 10.000 men with us," Shuri frowned.

I gritted my teeth as I went to think over the best solution for us to get out from his predicament. I then recalled a line from one of the books I read in my youth. 'If you can't fight your enemy directly, then fight smarter than your enemy.' Considering how the Turban was, it would be easy to fight smarter than they were. After all, I have Shuri with me.

"Shuri," I called to the strategist. "We need to form a plan to make up with our shortcoming in our number."

"Y–Yes! R–Right away!" Shuri replied.

As Shuri worked on to think of a plan, a newcomer entered the tent. The person was a girl with blue that's cut short just above her shoulder blades while a portion of her hair in the back was tied into a thin, low ponytail and her eyes were reddish violet. She was wearing a kimono–like robe with a separated collar and sleeves, which revealed a portion of her… um… assets and her back. The shoulders were puffed and the end of her sleeves, were decorated with black–trimmed yellow butterfly wings and a black sash was wrapped around her waist which was tied into large bow on her back. A pair of white leggings covered the most of her legs and she was wearing black platform sandals on her feet. On her head she was wearing a white head dress with red tassels hanging on a loop on each side.

Somehow, seeing this girl reminded me of a certain girl from a doomsday mecha anime back in my own world. What was it called again? Evangel–something?

Kousonsan, seeing the newcomer, nodded at her. "Shiryuu, what is it?"

"Eh? Shiryuu?" I blinked. Where have I heard that name before?

"Ah, good, I came right on time." the newcomer said before turning to me and looking at me slyly. "Ho~, so you're the Messenger of Heaven?"

"Um… yeah, that's me." I said. "I'm Kurogasa Kururugi."

"Nice to meet you," the girl said, "My last name is Chou. Followed by my first name Un. And my common name is Shiryuu."

…

…

…

…

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!"

"Is there something wrong?" asked Chou'un as she blinked in confusion.

"Gaim–sama, that's was unsightly," said Shuri nervously.

"I–I know, b-but…" I tried to reason, but she was right. I really need to tone down my surprised expression or else, I will upset the wrong person. Cheeks flushing, I coughed to my hand before I said, "I'm sorry about that, Chou'un–san. I've heard about your prowess as a warrior, but… I never thought that you are a girl."

"I understand. You must be quite surprised, right?" said Chou'un as she went closer to me.

As in really close…

I gulped nervously as Chou'un's face was inches close to my own. I could feel her breath and saw her mesmerizing violet–red eyes staring right into my soul. O didn't try to look away even if it was very uncomfortable for me because looking away was a sign of weakness and I really didn't want to look weak.

That, and if I looked down it could be very dangerous.

"You're an interesting person, Kurogasa–dono," said Chou'un slyly.

"Uh, thanks," I replied, trying to hid my nervousness.

Kousonsan sighed at her antics as her palm met her face squarely. "Enough messing around, Shiryuu. What is it?"

"The reinforcements have arrived." Chou'un said turning to her after pulling her face away from me. "That is splendid news for us. Therefore, I'd like to hear of your plan to defeat the Yellow Turbans, and thereafter I will lead the vanguard and confer victory upon you.

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that in history Chou'un can be a battle maniac too?

"Mattaku… not this again…" Kousonsan sighed.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Look Shiryuu, I can understand you want to prove your valor but right now, aren't you being insolent of interrupting a meeting between Kurogasa–dono and I?"

"If I were your vassal, then that would be the case." Chou'un smirked. "However, I don't recall you ever making me your vassal."

"Well… you have a point there." Kousonsan said. "So what do suggest we do?"

"Isn't it obvious? We're going up against a mob. If a matchless warrior attacks and strike fear into the enemy then surely they will rout. We charge in immediately."

"WHAT?!" I asked incredulously.

"Hawawa, th–that's a crazy idea!" Shuri stuttered.

"Look, just because you're strong on your own doesn't mean you can handle them on your own," I said, trying to reason with her reckless idea. "Even a mob like them can become dangerous when they're cornered or motivated. We need a plan to eliminate their numerical advantage against us."

Chou'un raised an eyebrow at my statement before she asked, "Well, what do you suggest we do, Kurogasa–dono?"

I tried to think hard about it, but Shuri came to the rescue. "Gaim–sama, I have a plan."

Everyone turned at the petite strategist and she blushed in embarrassment as she was the center of the attention. "W–Well, Gaim–sama, together with Kan'u–san and Chou'un–san will intercept the Yellow Turbans and once you caused enough chaos, you will immediately rejoin your personal squads in the rear while Chouhi–san covers for you. Before she moves out however, please make sure that she brings more flag bearers with them."

"More flag bearers?" quoted Kousonsan before the realization sunk in. "I see, that way we can fool the enemy by thinking we have more soldiers than we actually do."

"That's right," Shuri smiled before she continued on. "Then once Gaim–sama and the others rejoin with their unit, they will join Chouhi and drive off the Turbans. This time however, make sure there's a hole in the formation so the Turbans will have a way out once they are cornered. That way also can be advantageous to us since they won't fight by focusing their army to breakthrough. That hole however, must lead to Kousonsan–dono's camp so we can trap them into a two front battle."

"That does sound like a good idea." Kousonsan said. "I think it could actually work."

"Y–You think so?" Shuri asked.

"Call it a gut feeling." Kousonsan said. "But you can't do it alone with just your 5,000 men." She then turned to me. "Kurogasa–dono, I'll leave you in charge of using my men as well. 8,000 men is better than 5,000. Once you lured the Turbans here, the rest of my men and I will finish them off."

Shuri and I thought over the plan in our heads before we shared a look and nodded.

"That will work with our plan. With that number, I'm sure we can hold them down with Gaim–sama, Kan'u–san, and Chou'un–san leading the army," said Shuri.

"Ho~? I get to lead the army?" Chou'un raised an eyebrow with interest.

"Yes you do." I said. "And you'll get to see why I'm called the Messenger of Heaven when we go to battle."

"Fufufufu… then I look forward to it…" Chou'un said slyly as she got close to me.

"Uh…" I said nervously. "W–What is it, Chou'un–san?"

"I never thought the Messenger of Heaven like you will be shy around women," commented Chou'un, a sly smile gracing her features. "I was under the impression you are used to women already."

"I–Is it wrong for me to be nervous around women?" I retorted indignantly with a slight blush on my face as I mentally added, _'Especially with a sly one like you!'_

Chou'un chuckled. "You're an interesting person, Kurogasa–dono. I look forward to fight together with you and the famed Green Dragon Crescent Blade wielder Kan'u Unchou."

"W–Wait, you know about Aisha?" I asked surprised.

"Oh, going by her true name huh?" Chou'un smirked.

_'Shimatta…!'_ Kurogasa hissed in his thoughts.

"That aside, how could I not know?" Chou'un asked. "I've traveled around China a lot and I hear the stories."

"I–I see…" I said, before turning to Shuri. "C-C'mon Shuri, we gotta tell Kan'u and Chouhi the plan." I then turned to Kousonsan as I inclined my head to her. "Kousonsan–dono, we shall take our leave now."

"Very well," nodded Kousonsan. "Your army may enter my camp, pass through the western gate, and march from there to intercept the Yellow Turbans."

"Understood," I replied as I turned to Shuri. "C'mon Shuri."

"Yes, Gaim–sama."

Shuri and I left the tent, missing the look of interest Chou'un shot at me.

* * *

Shuri and I walked out of Kousonsan's camp and Aisha was quick to greet us.

"Welcome back, Gaim–sama, Shuri," said Aisha.

"We're back," replied Shuri and I at the same time before I spoke. "We already have a plan for the upcoming battle with the Yellow Turbans."

"Is that so?" inquired Aisha as I elaborated the details of the plan to her.

"That's right. Shuri said that me, together with you and Chou'un-san would intercept the Yellow Turbans and once we caused enough chaos, I will immediately rejoin my personal squad in the rear while Rinrin covers for me. Before she moves though she has to make sure that she brings more flag bearers with them."

"More flag bearers?" asked Aisha.

"Yeah, we have to make them think we have more soldiers than they do. Once I rejoin with your unit, we will join Rinrin and drive off the Turbans. This time however, we have to make sure there is a hole in the formation so the Turbans will have a way out once they're cornered. The hole, must lead to Kousonsan–dono's camp so we can trap them into a two fronts battle."

"I see… that could work," hummed Aisha thoughtfully before she asked, "Then, who is this Chou'un?"

"She's an ancillary general that works for Kousonsan–dono," I answered before I sighed and muttered under my breath, "She's also very flirty."

Aisha blinked before she inquired further, "What was that, Gaim–sama?"

"It's nothing." I waved off. "Anyway, please relay our plan to our army and get them ready, The Turbans will be here in 2 hours and I want our army ready to intercept them from the west gate of Kousonsan–dono's camp."

"Understood," replied Aisha as she turned to the army and relayed the plan to them.

* * *

Two hours later, with preparations all ready, my army along with my generals and strategist marched over to the west gate of the camp and sure enough, Chou'un was there waiting for us along with Kousonsan's army that I will use with my own.

"You've arrived." Chou'un smirked.

"Of course I did." I replied. "Is everything ready on Kousonsan-dono's end?"

"Naturally," Chou'un nodded before looking to Aisha. "So you must be the great Kan'u Unchou of the Green Dragon Crescent Blade."

"I am," answered Aisha. "And you must be Chou'un Shiryuu. Gaim–sama has told me about you. I look forward to fight together with you."

"Oh, did he?" said Chou'un as she glanced discreetly at me before turning back at Aisha. "I too will look forward to fight together with you, Kan'u–san."

Aisha nodded as she turned to me, "We are ready to go, Gaim–sama."

"Got it," I said before turning to my men. "Alright people, this is it! This will be another battle against the Yellow Turbans. I know you must be tired dealing with them every day, but we can't falter! Remember, they're coming to destroy and rob everything that we have worked hard for. Let's show them how strong we really are when we are protecting something important!"

The army roared out their agreement loudly, their spirit and morale has risen thanks to my speech.

Shuri was looking through her telescope when she saw the Yellow Turbans incoming. "Gaim–sama! The Yellow Turbans are here!"

I whipped out his Sengoku Driver and his Orange Lockseed in response. "Let's do this!" I said as I placed the Sengoku Driver on my waist and the belt immediately wrapped around it.

"Ho~? What's this?" Chou'un asked in interest as I held up the Orange Lockseed sideways, parallel to my face.

"Henshin!"

**ORANGE! **

The zipper–like portal opened up from the sky and the Orange Arms slowly descended down, making Kousonsan's detachment of our army looked surprised with Chou'un looking surprised too before I locked the Orange Lockseed in place in the Driver.

**LOCK ON!**

The war horn sounded with the techno music playing at the same time for a moment before I sliced open the Lockseed.

**SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS! HANAMICHI ON STAGE!**

The Orange Arms landed on my shoulders and formed his Pre–Arms suit as the energy rippled washed over my body. It then disassembled as its various parts folded down to my suited body and attached to be my armor and revealed my helmeted and masked visage. The armor created an energy splash effect as the transformation completed and Daidaimaru appeared on my hand.

"So this is the fabled armor of the Messenger of Heaven?" asked Chou'un with a hint of awe in her tone.

"That is correct. It's amazing, isn't it?" commented Aisha.

I then turned to my army once again. "Alright people, let's move according to our plan! Kururugi Squad, Kan'u squad, and Chou'un squad will move to intercept the Turbans and create chaos there. Once we do, we retreat to rejoin the rest our unit in the back while Chouhi squad will cover our retreat! Is that clear?"

"Crystal clear, Gaim–sama," replied Aisha dutifully.

"I understand," said Chou'un seriously.

"Leave it to Rinrin to protect you, Onii–chan!" responded Rinrin with a thumbs–up.

"Good luck, Gaim–sama," encouraged Shuri with a small smile.

"Thank you," I then turned back to face the Yellow Turbans in the distance. I then unsheathed the Musou Saber and pointed it at the incoming enemies. "Vanguard units, charge!"

With that, all of us charged towards the Yellow Turban Army with a war cry and the latter doing the same from the other side. Soon after, the two sides clashed and our final battle with the Yellow Turbans began.

"I'm Kamen Rider Gaim!" I shouted. "And this is my stage now!" I took out my Musou Saber to dual wield with my Daidaimaru and slashed any brave Yellow Turban that tried to cross my path. "EI! HAH! SORYAH!" I shouted slashing the bandits as I go. I pulled the tab on my Musou Saber and shot a few bullets, killing them before I reloaded and shot them again.

A Yellow Turban tried to sneak on me, but I quickly pivoted on my foot and struck him with Daidaimaru before he parried a sword slash with my Musou Saber and killed its wielder.

"Surround him!" ordered a Yellow Turban to his allies. They roared their affirmative to surround me.

"No you don't!" I retorted as I reached for my Sengoku Driver and sliced it once.

**SOIYA! ORANGE SQUASH!**

Daidaimaru flared with an orange aura and I slashed it wide, striking the Turbans that to tried surround me as their body exploded.

"Alright, who's next?!" I challenged as I charged forward and slashed the Turbans who got in my way.

Meanwhile, Aisha and Chou'un were back-to-back, surrounded by a bunch of Yellow Turbans. "Do you think you can handle this many Chou'un–dono?" Aisha asked.

"Well, it would be trouble if one more showed up." Chou'un chuckled.

"Then that will be the one I will take care of." Aisha said.

"What. You're fighting too?" Chou'un joked.

"Of course I am," retorted Aisha with a smile. "After all, I am Kan'u Unchou, the first vassal of the Messenger of Heaven Kurogasa Kururugi and the Black Haired War General of Zhuo. These swine are no match for me!"

"Well said," Chou'un smirked as she called out to the Turbans. "My name is Cho'un Shiryuu, the Rising Dragon of Changshan! If you're truly men and not mongrels, then come at me!"

"Why you…!" snarled one of the leading Turbans. "Come on, boys! Let's get 'em!"

The Turbans roared and charged at the General duo.

"Hmph, no matter how many you are…" scoffed Aisha as she swung her Green Dragon Crescent Blade, killing a group of Turbans that charged at her, "…You're simply no match for me!"

"Haaaah!" Chou'un shouted a battle cry as her spear blurred into stabbing motions. Each stab killed the Turbans right and left. She then twirled her spear and jammed the butt of her weapon to the ground. "Come on! Don't tell me all you can do is bark!"

"What are you all doing, they're just two girls!" One Yellow Turban shouted.

"We can't beat them!" Another yelled.

"They're too strong!" A third exclaimed.

"I don't care what you have to do, just kill them!" The first one yelled.

"They are very stubborn," commented Chou'un as she stabbed a group of Turbans.

"And that's why they are fools," added Aisha as she slashed her weapon at another group of Yellow Turbans. "They do not realize they are outmatched."

"Then, let's show these fools how foolish they are to think they can defeat us, Kan'u-dono," said Chou'un as she held her weapon ready.

"Agreed. Shall we, Chou'un–dono?" replied Aisha as she too prepared her weapon.

The two lady warriors then charged at the Yellow Turbans with a battle cry, intending to kill every single of them.

* * *

_Coming out of it was huge. Something so large, that no man, have ever dared saw before._

_Its body was massive, shaped like that of a boar, covered mostly with red armor–like skin with splotches of black and white web–patterned substance all over. A pair of curved tusks grew from its lower lips and its legs were hunched. Its front leg has red, fin–like shoulder armor that branched in two, one was white which extended backward and one was connected to its opposite. It sniffed the air and smelled the scent of a mature Lockseed before it roared and dashed toward where the Lockseed was._

* * *

**SOIYA! PINE ARMS! FUNSAI DESTROY!**

The Orange Arms disappeared and I replaced it with the Pine Arms and once that was equipped to me, I started swinging my Pine Iron, sending some of the Yellow Turbans flying high while I broke their weapons on some others. "Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora!" I yelled swinging it around.

"Man, that guy's crazy!" One of the Yellow Turbans shouted.

"We can't even get near him!" Another added.

"Just kill that fruit armored guy already!" A third yelled.

"Sorry, but I ain't dying easily!" I said before slicing the Lockseed twice.

**SOIYA! PINE AU LAIT!**

I twirled my Pine Iron as it glowed with yellow energy and enlarged. I then swung it around and let my weapon smashed through the ranks of Yellow Turbans, killing them on impact and sending some of them flying with utter ease. I then saw the Yellow Turbans panicking and looking scared with my finisher display. Nodding to myself, I called out to my army, "Alright everyone, this is it! Begin to retreat now!"

Heeding my orders, the soldiers of Zhuo–Ryousei allied army began to retreat as planned.

Chou'un skewered a Yellow Turban and frowned when the army began to move to the next phase of their plan. "We're retreating already? And just when I finished my warm up," she commented with a sigh.

"You don't have to worry about that. We will fight more once we rejoin the rear guards," replied Aisha after she sent some Yellow Turbans flying with a swipe of her Green Dragon Crescent Blade.

"I still hope to fight some more, though," said Chou'un. "But if this is for our plan, then I shall follow the order."

"Very well. Shall we make our retreat now?" asked Aisha as the both of them retreated and followed their army.

After reuniting with Aisha and Chou'un, I led my army retreating to where Rinrin's rear guard units were waiting for us. When I saw her army preparing to make their charge, I can't help to think that her timing was right. Rinrin isn't exactly the sharpest sword out there, but she made it up with her quick on the fly thinking and _tremendous_ strength. What's with half–pint sized girls and crazy strength anyway?

I turned to look at the Turbans who panicked even more seeing our deceptively small army charging at them in full sprint. I even heard Rinrin's voiced calling out loud to the rear guard army, "Alright everyone! Charge, Smash, Win!" her war cry was followed by our soldier's own.

"So that is Chouhi Yokutoku, the famed Enhito Chouhi?" asked Chou'un somewhat incredulously. "She's younger than what I expected."

"Don't let her look or small size fool you, Chou'un–san. Rinrin is really strong," answered Aisha with a smile as she rejoined the rest of her unit.

"Just how did she get that strong anyway?" I commented as I saw many Yellow Turbans flying from a single swipe of her Viper Spear.

"You can wonder about that later, Gaim–sama. We need to thin out the Yellow Turbans before we herd them to Kousonsan–dono's location." said Aisha.

"Got it," I replied as I called out to my unit. "Alright guys, let's show them what Zhuo Army can do!"

"YEEEEAAAAAHHHH!" they thundered their reply as we moved into position to pincer the Yellow Turbans.

"Let's see if we can soften them up more," I said before unlocking the Pine Lockseed and taking it out of the Sengoku Driver.

**LOCK OFF**

I then took the Ichigo Lockseed and unlocked it.

**ICHIGO!**

The Pine Arms disappeared reforming to my Pre-Arms and the zipper portal opened up to reveal the metal strawberry before I inserted the Lockseed into the Sengoku Driver, locking it in place.

**LOCK ON!**

**SOIYA! ICHIGO ARMS! SHUSHUTTO SPARK!**

The Ichigo Arms lowered itself to me as it disassembled into a set of armor that created a red energy splash as the transformation completed. I threw the Ichigo Kunai on my hand at a bandit before I parried a sword slash with another as I drew my Musou Saber and slashed the unlucky Turban at the chest.

"C'mon is that all you got?!" I taunted. "You guys don't stand a chance when it comes to dancing on my stage!"

"Oh yeah? Then dance to this!" One of the Yellow Turbans shouted as he charged at me with two swords and swung. Naturally, I parried the blow before I slashed his weapon away, breaking them in the process.

"You were saying?" I asked.

The Turban broke into into a cold sweat before I ended his misery by decapitating him. It was sad, but I have no choice. They already chose their path as a bandit and the only thing I could do for them was to stop them before they hurt anyone else.

Another group of Yellow Turbans charged at me with a battle cry and I immediately responded by sheathing my Musou Saber and drew six Ichigo Kunai from my back before throwing them at the bandits. They hit their targets explosively before I unsheathed my Musou Saber and charged at the ranks of Yellow Turbans with my sword and a new Kunai brandished.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I yelled.

"Ahhhhhh, it's that fruit guy!" One Yellow Turban wailed.

"Run away!" Another screamed.

"You're not getting away!" I yelled as I managed to catch up to them and slashed them with my Musou Saber, making them scream in pain in the process.

"Gaim-sama!" One of my soldiers shouted, coming up to me. "Another group of soldiers are coming towards the battlefield!"

"What?!" I gasped. "What flag do they fly?"

"They bear the character of Kouson!"

Hearing the report I smirked behind my mask, "Alright then, let's finish this up! All units, pincer them in! We're going all out! Aisha! Chou'un–san! With me!"

"Understood, Gaim–sama!" replied Aisha dutifully.

"Alright. I'm getting bored playing with these dogs," said Chou'un smirking.

The three of us led our army charging toward the ranks of Yellow Turbans. With Rinrin's unit hounding them from the other side, they can only retreat toward the hole in our formation. They didn't know that we were leading them to where Kousonsan's Army was ready to greet them. I slashed at a group of Yellow Turbans with the Musou Saber and threw a kunai at one that was lucky enough to dodge my attack. I drew another kunai in reverse grip to deflect a spear and killed its wielder by stabbing him on the chest. From the corner of my eyes I saw Aisha and Chou'un were fighting back to back against some large group of Yellow Turbans, but they weren't cornered at all. In fact, it was the Turbans who were cornered against the two of _them_.

"This is it men!" I heard Kousonsan as she came charging towards the Yellow Turbans on her white horse with her sword in hand. "We got them pincered down! All units, charge in and finish them off!" She shouted.

"UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Kousonsan's army roared, letting out their battle cry before they charged in with her.

"N–No way! Reinforcements!?" said a panicking Yellow Turban.

True enough, the white horse cavalry led by Kousonsan was charging at the Yellow Turbans followed by the rest of our joined army. I heard that white horses were considered as sacred animals and while the Turbans were not so superstitious, their appearance along with Kousonsan's army was enough to rattle down their already depleting morale.

"Alright people, just a little more to go!" I called out to my army.

"BY YOUR WILL!" my army replied vigorously as once.

I charged ahead with Musou Saber and Ichigo Kunai slashing left and right at the Yellow Turbans who were on my range of attack. I threw my kunai at a bandit, killing him as it detonated before I removed the Ichigo Lockseed from my Sengoku Driver and locked it into Musou Saber.

**1! 10! 100! ICHIGO CHARGE!**

I slashed Musou Saber upward as it shot a giant Ichigo Kunai projection which morphed into a giant strawberry and burst into multiple Ichigo Kunais that rained upon the Yellow Turbans. The Yellow Turbans wailed in pain as the steel rain in the form of Ichigo Kunais pierced their bodies, taking out most of the Yellow Turban Army. I was surprised that some of them were still standing, with the Ichigo Kunais sticking out of their bodies.

"Aisha! Rinrin! Kousonsan! Chou'un–san! Let's finish them off with our hissatsu attack!" I shouted.

"Yes! Gaim–sama!" replied Aisha.

"Let's beat them!" Rinrin cheered.

"This should be fun." Chou'un smirked.

"I'm ready when you are!" Kousonsan said.

"Right!" I said before switching Lockseeds again.

**ORANGE!**

**LOCK ON!**

**SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS! HANAMICHI ON STAGE!**

The Ichigo Arms disappeared and was replaced with the Orange Arms. I then joined Musou Saber and Daidaimaru at the hilt and took off the Orange Lockseed and locked it in the Musou Saber.

**LOCK ON! 1! 10! 100! 1,000! 10,000! **

I then decided to play around a bit, so I could act like Momotaros from Den–O. "Hissatsu! Ore tachi no hissatsu waza!" I then slashed two times trapping the remaining Yellow Turbans that were still alive in the energy made orange and twirled my Daidaimaru to the orange slice side.

**ORANGE CHARGE!**

"Part Orange!" I yelled as my allies and I charged at the Orange construct and slashed it with our weapons. Kousonsan struck first, followed by Chou'un, Rinrin, Aisha, and finally me with Daidaimaru side of my Naginata. The construct exploded and sent orange slices to all directions.

"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" My army cheered along with Kousonsan's army who cheered as well.

"We did it!" Rinrin exclaimed happily.

"Gaim–sama! We won!" cheered Aisha.

"We sure did," I replied with a smile.

Our jubilation mood was disrupted when a loud roar echoed in the air.

"What was that!?" asked Kousonsan in shock.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Rinrin cried out in shock, pointing at something. "There's a really big piggy monster coming towards us!"

"WHAT?!" I asked shocked as I looked and to my horror, I saw that it was another Inves. _I_ts body was massive, shaped like that of a boar, covered mostly with red armor–like skin with splotches of black and white web–patterned substance all over. A pair of curved tusks grew from its lower lips and its legs were hunched. Its front leg has red, fin–like shoulder armor that branched in two, one was white which extended backward and one was connected to its opposite.

This was the Inoshishi Inves!

"Oh my…" Chou'un gasped.

"W–WHAT IS THAT?!" Aisha cried out. "Is that an Inves?!"

"It is, but ten times worse…" I gritted. This was not good at all. "That's a Berserk State Inves and it's much stronger!"

"How do we fight it, Gaim–sama?" asked Aisha in worry.

I unclipped one of the Lockseed from its holder on my right side. It has the image of a watermelon and letter L.S. 10 in black. "I'm gonna have to go big." I said before gulping and opening it.

**SUIKA!**

At that point, a HUGE and I mean HUGE zipper portal opened up from the sky and huge big metal watermelon appeared overhead. I gawked and bugged out at the appearance of it. I knew it was big in the show, but to see it up close is something else.

"UWHOAAAAAAAAAA! IT'S A BIG WATERMELON!" Rinrin cried out in awe and shock, pointing at it.

"Gaim–dono? What is that thing?" asked Chou'un.

"Our only way to to defeat that Inves," I replied. "Stand back please."

"Gaim–sama, you can't be serious!" Aisha protested. "That huge thing is going to crush you!"

"Don't worry. I'll be fine," I assured. "…Hopefully…"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOPEFULLY?!" Aisha snapped.

I didn't answer her as I placed the Suika Lockseed on the Sengoku Driver and locked it in place.

**LOCK ON!**

The techno war horn music played again and I sliced the Lockseed open. The core image depicted the half of a whole watermelon and the back lid image showed double-bladed watermelon slices shaped spear.

**SOIYA!**

At that point, the metal watermelon fell on top of me, much to Aisha and Rinrin's horror with Chou'un looking on in disbelief.

"GAIM–SAMA!" Aisha shouted in panic.

"Onii–chan!" Rinrin yelled.

"What in the world…?" muttered Chou'un.

That's when the metal watermelon started spinning around the three of them.

**SUIKA ARMS! ODAMA BIG BANG!**

**YOROI MODE!**

The Watermelon shifted and opened to become a giant armor. I took on the form of a small Gundam. My shoulder pauldrons, chest armor, and the armor covering my upper thighs were watermelon colored, red arm armor, and black armored legs. Then in my hand was the Suika Sojinto, a double–bladed sword. I can see the girls and our army looking surprised at the massive Arms change and I don't blame them. Heck, I was still having trouble believing that I was basically piloting a mecha! Sure the Suika Arms was a mini–mecha, but meh, details.

"Wow! Onii–chan became a giant!" said Rinrin with sparkling eyes.

"G–Gaim-sama?" Aisha stuttered.

"Stand back everyone!" I said as I managed to turn the armor towards the Inoshishi Inves. "This one is mine!" I dashed at the massive Inves which roared challengingly before meeting my charge head on. I struck first with the Suika Sojinto at its face, eliciting a squeal of pain from the Inoshishi Inves. I then punched it with Suika Arms' free hand before slashing it several times. The Inves reeled before it growled angrily as it scratched the ground with its right forefoot before charging in head first, its tusk pointed at me.

"No you don't!" I shouted as I caught its tusk and pushed it back. Both of us struggled in a deadlock before I broke up and slashed its belly. The Inoshishi Inves reeled back before it recovered quickly and charged again.

"I don't think so!" I shouted.

**ODAMA MODE!**

The armor reverted back to the huge watermelon mecha and the Inoshishi Inves clashed its tusk with it, trying to push me back, but to no avail.

With a single command from me, I had the Suika Arms spin around and knock the Inves back several meters. Thank goodness the soldiers listened to my words to not interfere. Who knows what will happen to them if they did. I rolled the Suika Arms to roll around and charged at the Inves. The weird thing was, I was looking at things like normal. I'm not spinning like the Suika Arms. I can look at that later, right now I have an Inves to kill.

The Inves intercepted with its tusks, only to be knocked back. I had the Suika Arms smash it several times before with one last powerful roll, I smashed at the Inves and sending it flying.

**YOROI MODE!**

I changed back into the huge mecha and charged at the Inoshishi Inves, bringing the fight to it, swinging my Suika Sojinto on it making it squeal like a pig going through a slaughterhouse… well, it _is_ a pig and… well, you get the idea. Anyways, I continued attacking until I went into one more mode I haven't done.

**GYRO MODE!**

The mecha changed form and my armor mecha now became a flying mecha.

"UWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOA! Onii–chan can fly now!" Rinrin cried out excitedly.

"That's quite unexpected," said Chou'un with wide eyes.

I flew to its level and started firing, seed like bullets from the finger tips and each of them hit its skin explosively. After several moments of firing my load on it, the Inves fell to the ground with a loud boom, its body was smoking in several places. It tried to stand up and run away, but I have another plan in mind.

**YOROI MODE!**

The Suika Arms changed back into its warrior configuration and I immediately reached for my Sengoku Driver as I sliced my Lockseed once.

**SOIYA! SUIKA SQUASH!**

An energy projection of a watermelon formed in front of my Suika Sojinto before I punched it with my free hand, launching it toward the Inves. The Inoshishi Inves tried to dodge, but my attack was faster and entrapped it. I twirled the Suika Sojinto in my hand as its blades glowed red and I dashed at the trapped monster.

"SEEEIIIIIHAAAAAA!"

I slashed the watermelon projection with my weapon before it exploded and rained 'watermelon flesh' around it. "Yosha!" I cheered, before I turned around to face the army and they were really shocked at what I did.

"YEAH! You did it Onii–chan!" Rinrin cheered. "That means we won! We won everyone!"

"UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" The army cheered too before I jumped out of the Suika Arms and went back to civilian form and the Suika Arms disappeared. Not only that, my Suika Lockseed turned grey, meaning I can't use it anymore, or at least for a while until I can use it again.

"Gaim–sama!" Aisha called out as she hurried to my side.

"Oh, hey Aisha– OW!" Whatever I was going to say to her was interrupted as she decked the back of my head.

And it really hurts.

"How could you worry me so much like that?! I thought you were dead, crushed by your own armor!" she practically shouted.

"Ow, ow, ow… I'm sorry about that," I apologized to her earnestly, "It's just… Suika Arms is the only choice to fight Inves that big."

"You still worried me!"

"Hai, hai, wakatteru yo…" I sighed. "I'm sorry I worried you. I won't do it again."

"Just… warn me when you're going to use that armor again," replied Aisha.

"Alright, I will warn you next time," I said to her.

"Onii–chan!" called Rinrin as she approached us with Chou'un and Kousonsan. "That was _so_ awesome!"

"Indeed, I have no idea that you are capable of doing that," said Chou'un with a smirk. "You really are an interesting person, Kurogasa–dono."

"Now I see why you're called the Messenger of Heaven." Kousonsan said impressed. "You can summon up those fruit armor of yours from Heaven itself."

"Oh c'mon, it's nothing really." I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment.

"Nonsense Kurogasa–dono, you've truly outdone yourself," Chou'un said before she got to close with a seductive look on her face. "How about you and I celebrate our victory?"

"Uh…" I gulped with a blush.

Fortunately, Aisha was quick coming to my defense. "My apologies, but Gaim–sama needs to return to Xizang soon."

"Is that so? Such a pity…" lamented Chou'un in mock sadness. "Then perhaps one day when our road cross each other in the future."

"Y–Yeah, sure," I replied unsurely.

Chou'un then turned to Kousonsan. "Well then, Hakukei–dono. As per our agreement before, I will be taking my leave now."

"Alright," replied Kousonsan with a sigh as she smiled slightly at Chou'un. "Good luck in your future, Shiryuu. I hope you will find someone worthy serving in your journey.

"Thank you, Hakukei–dono," replied Chou'un.

"Aw mou~ you're leaving?" Rinrin whined.

"Yes. There are many places I must see." Chou'un nodded. I am walking around the country to ascertain if there is any lord or general out there who is worthy of commanding me and my spear."

"Well… you _do_ have _me_ for an option." I said.

"True, but I keep my options open." Chou'un smirked. "Who knows? Maybe when we cross paths again, if there are no other lords out there worthy to serve, I shall come back to you. How does that sound?"

"May I ask why you're leaving Kousonsan–dono, Chou'un–dono?" Aisha asked.

"Hmm…" She hummed thoughtfully as she looked at Kousonsan. "Don't get me wrong, Hakukei–dono. You are certainly brave and capable General, but I can't see you to become a ruler."

"N–Nani?" Kousonsan asked a bit startled.

"Right now, the only possible person who I can see as a ruler is Kurogasa–dono. After what I've witnessed here in this battle, I'd say he's more than capable of doing that."

"Oh gosh, I don't know about that…" I blushed bashfully, rubbing my nape. "I'm just a simple guy doing what's right."

"You're just being modest, Gaim–sama," said Aisha.

"Aisha–san is right. You definitely have what it takes to be a ruler," conceded Shuri.

"Yeah! Onii–chan is the best!" Rinrin added.

"Oh come on, girls. Stop it! You're making me blush!" I said and I was really blushing here!

"And you're very humble too. It is certainly refreshing to see a lord like you," said Chou'un with genuine smile.

"Uh… thanks." I got out.

"No problem." Chou'un said. "Well, I must get going. I bid you all farewell." With that, she bowed and turned around before leaving.

"There she goes." I said.

"Think we'll see her again?" Aisha asked.

"I'm sure we will meet again," I answered with certainty. After all, Chou'un is one of the Tiger Generals of Shoku which is probably my faction here. She will join us in the future.

We then bid goodbye to our new ally, Kousonsan and head back to Xizang recuperate. This battle was just another hurdle for us to pass and while I'm not sure what the future may bring, but I will be ready to face it.

Together with my allies.

* * *

There you have it people! Another chapter of Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Kingdoms! The Yellow Turbans are no more and Kurogasa's army has won the day! What'll be their next adventure? Well, stay tuned to find out! And as always, thanks for reading!


	5. Welcome to Helheim Forest

Disclaimer: Hello everyone, it's Fenikkusumaru and Vanishing Raptor here giving you another chapter of Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Kingdoms! Get ready for an exciting chapter, because despite this chapter showing their day off, it's still an adventure nonetheless because they're entering Helheim Forest itself! Let's go!

Disclaimer: Same thing.

* * *

It's been two weeks since our battle with the Yellow Turbans and the news of our victory has spread through the land faster than we'd anticipate, but that's fine. As of now more than half of Yozhou was allied with my faction and I also formed a new alliance with Kousonsan too. I can say that Xizang has been developing really well with the trade agreement I made with our allies. On the downside, the paperwork has increased significantly, but I was thankful for Shuri's help to lessen my burden.

And since we have been working really hard lately, I gave my officers a day off to relax and whatnot since we really needed it.

"Hahhhhhhhhhhhhhh… Stupid paperwork… Why did it have to be so tedious?" I grumbled to myself as I sat at my desk, finishing up with signing the last document before I stretched out to loosen myself up before I sat back and at the ceiling. "It's almost about a month since I came to this world huh?" I said lost in thought. I have to admit, I'm pretty used to this world. As much as I wanted to go home, I just don't have to means to do that. Plus, I still have to look for my friends too and find that guy who stole the mirror. I really hope that Koji and the Nogano brothers are doing okay.

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

"Come in." I said, and the door opened to reveal Aisha coming in. "Oh, hey Aisha."

"Have you finished signing the documents?" Aisha asked, walking to my desk.

"Just finished," I sighed. "I've only been in this world for a month, and all this document signing is still tedious as ever."

"Please bear with it, Gaim–sama. It is for everyone's sake after all."

I sighed again at that. "Oh, and is there any reports regarding Cracks opening in our territory?"

"None so far, but I have ordered our men to keep their eyes open for any possibilities."

I nodded at her gratefully as my mind went to think. In all of my major battles in this world, Cracks always opened and Inves came out. Thankfully so far, there were no soldiers in my army infected with the Inves disease. It made me wonder how and why in the world Cracks are opening like that. Was Helheim Forest trying to reach this world? Or was it someone controlling the Inves?

If it was the latter, then I would find that person and stop them. But if it was the former then…

"Gaim–sama?" called Aisha trying to get my attention.

"Huh?" I asked, snapping out of my thoughts.

"Is something wrong?" Aisha questioned.

"O–Oh, it's nothing, just thinking about something. It's not really important." I waved off. "Say, how about you and I get some lunch after a hard day of work? My treat,"

Aisha thought of my offer before she answered, "I'd like that. Should I ask for Rinrin and Shuri to come along?"

"I don't see why not. This way we can know each other better," I replied.

"Very well, I will get Rinrin and Shuri. Please wait for us in the entrance," said Aisha.

"Okay."

* * *

**(Cue Theme Howling Soul by Rekka Katakiri)**

**(First Instrumental Section)** We see black and white flashes of a few of the girls before freezing on Kurogasa in full color, standing back to back with Gaim. Then a few more black and white flashes of the girls appearing before coming to a full color image of Koji, smirking coolly with several of his harem girls surrounding him as Baron is off to the side. The last few black and white flashes then occur as we see Souji and Daigo stand back to back, Souji looking serious and Daigo upbeat as Zangetsu and Ryugen stand by them.

**(Second Instrumental Section)** the title logo for "Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Kingdoms" appears in front of the palace before it slowly fades to change scenes. The scene changes to Kurogasa as Gaim leading the Shu forces in battle. Then, the scene changes to Koji as Baron, attacking a group of Inves with the Go forces. Lastly, the scene changes to Daigo and Souji as Ryugen and Zangetsu, protecting the Gi forces.

**(Tsumetai genjitsu nageki kodoku ni karada furuwasu) **The scene changes to a destroyed village as rain poured down. Kurogasa was sitting with his back on a destroyed wall, looking down on the ground sadly. His eyes then shifted to the Orange Lockseed in his hand, and clenched it tightly before looking up at the cloudy sky.  
**(Koko kara nigedashitai kedo sukoshi mo ugokazu ni ita)** Koji is then seen on a balcony, leaning against the railing, looking out into the night with a deep, thoughtful look on his face. He looks down briefly at the Banana Lockseed in his hand. Taking a deep breath, he turns back into the building.

**(Uzumaku sabishisa kanji kuchibiru tsuyoku kamishimeru)** In the palace courtyard, Daigo is sitting on the tree, leaning his back against the huge trunk looking bored as he looked at his Budou Lockseed while his Souji was sitting down on a chair, reading a scroll before looked up at the sky then looked back down at the table where his Melon Lockseed was.  
**(Kuyashinamida nagasu mae ni yuuki furishibori onore tsuranuke)** Suddenly, the scene changes to a town that seemed to have started to be overtaken by Helheim. As Inves surround them, Kurogasa, Koji, Daigo, and Souji nod to each other as they put on their Sengoku Drivers. Locking on their Lockseeds, they transform into Kamen Riders Gaim, Baron, Ryugen, and Zangetsu.

**(Atsuku tagiru tamashii otakebi to tomo ni tokihanate)** In the following shot, as the Kamen Riders battle against the Inves, the women prove their martial might in the fight by taking on the Inves as well, different shots showing them each in action.  
**(Kimerareta RUURU wo uchikowashite)** As the fighting continued, in the distance Kurogasa sees Saji, the man who had started it all and sent him and his friends to the Three Kingdoms world and he immediately charges at him.  
**(Kakenukero jiyuu e to)** Saji smirked evilly as he takes out his own Sengoku Driver. His Lockseed, however, is obscured because as he activates it, a flash of light overtakes the screen, making it unclear which Rider he becomes or if Kurogasa hits him.

**(Instrumental)** Kurogasa, Koji, Daigo, and Souji are seen with their armies, sitting in yukata's of the color scheme of their Rider, holding up their Lockseeds. The Musou women stand behind them at the ready with their weapons out as the title logo appears again.

* * *

Chapter 5: Welcome to Helheim Forest

After getting ready, I was at the entrance of my… well… the estate that I was staying at. This was the former Chief Magistrate's house, but now it's mine to use as I see fit. Anyways, I waited for Aisha and soon enough, there she was with Rinrin and Shuri.

"Hey, glad you guys made it." I smiled, as the three girls approached me.

"Thank you for inviting us over to lunch, Gaim–sama," said Shuri bowing.

"Thanks, Onii–chan!" said Rinrin with a big smile.

"It's Aisha's idea and I thought it would be good to get know my comrades better." I replied.

Shuri blushed slightly as Aisha smiled. "Shall we be on our way then?"

"Yeah, let's go," I said as we walked to this restaurant I visited earlier. They served good food there.

The villagers we passed on the way to the restaurant greeted us warmly with smiles on their faces.

"Look, it's Gaim–sama!"

"And his generals are with him today."

"Hello, Gaim–sama!"

"General Kan, General Chou, Strategist Koumei! Good day!"

I waved back at them with a smile and so did my Generals and Strategist. When we arrived at the restaurant, we were seated, ordered our food and the waiter went to the back to relay the order to the chef.

"Alright girls, I wanna know more about each of you." I said.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I wanna start! I wanna start!" Rinrin said excitedly, raising her hand in the air.

"Okay then, Rinrin, go for it." I chuckled a bit at her enthusiasm.

"Okay! Rinrin grew up together with Aisha. She is as nagging as she was now," said Rinrin with a laugh.

"That is not true!" denied Aisha. "It's because you are such a handful! I'm worried because you're often so reckless like that!"

"Nyahahaha, you're still nagging!"

"I am not!"

"Well, I guess Aisha–san is a good big sister to Rinrin–chan," said Shuri with small laugh.

"Considering how Rinrin is, I'm not surprised," I replied dryly. "Go on Rinrin."

"Okay, now where was Rinrin?" She thought.

"You are at the part where you grew up with Aisha." I reminded.

"Oh, right, right," Rinrin nodded, now remembering.

"Mhmm, now go on." I said.

"Our families are close to each other and we were also taught by the same teacher. She was once an Ex-General of the Imperial Army," said Rinrin.

"She must be a great person," I mused.

"Yes, she was…" said Aisha as she looked down. Rinrin also looked down, remembering what happened to their family.

"Uh…" Crap, now I feel bad for bringing bad memories for either of them. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have–"

"Mmmm…" Rinrin shook her head. "It's not Onii–chan's fault."

"But–"

"It's not Onii–chan's fault!" Rinrin insisted. "Onii–chan was just curious and Rinrin won't blame you!"

"Thanks," I said, feeling genuinely touched by her generosity.

"You're welcome!" she grinned brightly. So Rinrin wasn't the type who will feel down for a long time, huh?

"I still remembered when sensei scolded you for slacking around," mused Aisha with a smile.

"Rinrin is not slacking! Rinrin is doing special training!" the petite red head denied vehemently.

I shared a look of curiosity with Shuri. I wonder what happened.

"You say playing with a puppy is special training?" teased Aisha. Wow, the straight laced Kan'u Unchou teasing? I guess she was still a girl at heart.

"I'm training how to tame a wild beast! That puppy could have been a wolf, right?" Rinrin insisted, trying to be convincing as she can. She almost succeeded, almost.

"A puppy is not a wolf, Rinrin–chan," commented Shuri with a small smile.

"Same difference!" Rinrin huffed.

"Okay, okay, that's enough." I said calming her down. "Well, enough about Rinrin, let's talk about you Shuri."

"Muu… Rinrin still wants to talk more…" Rinrin pouted cutely. I tried my best to ignore her pout. That kind of pout should be illegal, dang it!

"O–Oh, me?" asked Shuri as if she tried to reaffirm my words. I nodded at her and she went on. "W–Well, I don't remember much when I was young, but Shibaki-sensei took me in and raised me like her daughter."

"So Shibaki–dono is not only your teacher, but also your mother figure?" inquired Aisha.

"Yes, she is. Not only me, but also my fellow apprentices," answered Shuri, smiling.

I was still trying to process the information that Shibaki Suikyou, was also a woman here when Shuri mentioned her fellow apprentices. I immediately asked her, "Are your fellow apprentices named Houtou Shigen and Jōsho Genchoku?"

"Hawawa! Y–You know about Hinari–chan and Genchoku–chan, Gaim–sama!?" she asked in surprise.

"Well… sort of. As for how I know them, let's leave it at, I have my own way," I half lied. I assumed that Hinari was Houtou and Shuri called her by her true name instead.

"As expected of the Messenger of Heaven…" said Shuri in awe before she continued on, "Hinari–chan, Houtou that is, was taken by Shibaki–sensei almost two years after she took me in after her mother died of illness. Hinari–chan is really attached to Shibaki-sensei and wouldn't leave her side. Genchoku–chan on the other hand, came to seek sensei and wanted to learn more from her so she can become a traveling scholar."

"I see…"

While I learned more from Shuri's short story, I was rather disappointed that Houtou Shigen won't be joining us in the foreseeable future. It really is a pity. I was rather looking forward to work with the brilliant strategist known as Fledgling Phoenix. If she was as smart as Shuri was, then she would be a great help to us.

"Shibaki–dono must be a really great teacher and mother huh?" I asked.

"Yes, she is." Shuri smiled gently.

"Now Rinrin wants to know about Onii–chan!" Rinrin said excitedly.

"Eh? Me?" I blinked.

"Mmm!" Rinrin nodded.

"Well… for starters, I'm a student from a school, just like Shuri," I started and Shuri looked surprised.

"Eh? There are schools in Heaven?" she asked.

"There are, since the rules made it mandatory for students from 7 to 16 years of age to go to school. And once they reached the minimum age requirement, the can continue on to look for part-time work or continue their studies– although most decided to choose the latter so they can get better jobs because education really matters there," I explained to my officers.

"Amazing… they make education mandatory in Heaven…" Shuri whispered in awe. And are those stars I saw twinkling in her eyes?

"Yep, education will help you out in the long run." I said.

"What else is there in Heaven?" Shuri asked.

"Hmmmmmmmm… let's see…" I pondered, thinking on it. "Well, where I'm from, when you go to stores and buy food, there are some that are frozen and some that are stored in cans, to keep the food fresh for a long time, before it's ready to be cooked. And houses are lighted up by using electricity instead of using candles."

"Amazing… Heaven is really an amazing place…" said Aisha in awe.

"It's not without trouble too, you know?" I replied.

"What do you mean, Gaim–sama?" asked Shuri.

"There's always the same problem either here or my world, such as poverty, unemployment and corrupt government officials like that," I answered as I folded my hand.

"I see…" Aisha said a bit sad.

"And from my view as a government official, I can see how they feel when it comes to paperwork too." I sighed.

"As I said, you have to bear with it Gaim–sama." Aisha said. "It's for the sake of the people."

"I know, I know…" I waved off.

"So Gaim–sama… what's your family like?" Shuri asked.

I flinched a bit at that, "Um…"

"Shuri, I don't think it's a good idea to talk about that." said Aisha a bit worried.

"Huh?" Shuri asked confused.

"My parents are… gone…" I said struggling with my words.

"A–Ah! M–My apologies, Gaim–sama. I–I didn't know…" Shuri stammered her apologies.

"That's alright… It's still hurt somewhat, but I have my friends that supported me," I replied thinking about Koji and the Nogano brothers.

"I–I see…"

"Still… back when they are alive, Dad and Kaa–san are the greatest parents one could have." I smiled fondly. "We'd go out camping, take walks around the park, and have picnics… I couldn't ask for more. They were center of everything in my life."

"They must be really something huh?" Rinrin said.

"Yeah…"

"Here you are! Your lunch is served!" The waiter said as he brought out the food.

"Yay! Lunchtime!" Rinrin cheered.

"It looks delicious," Aisha smiled as he served it to us.

"I'm glad we get to talk like this." Shuri smiled too.

"Uh–huh," I nodded with a smile as well. I then did a Souji Tendou pose as I quoted one of his quotes, "Obaachan ga iteita: "It is enjoyable to eat something delicious, but the greatest joy comes from the time spent waiting for it.""

Rinrin blinked as she was about to take a bite from her food, "Nya? What do you mean, Onii–chan?"

"I think… Gaim–sama wants to say that the best part of waiting for delicious food is the time spent waiting for it," Shuri tried to interpret, before a smile graced her face. "I have to agree with him on this one."

"Me too. Now that we know more about our comrades, our bonds have become stronger," Aisha agreed.

"That's right," I said grinning as I clasped my hand for a prayer. "Now then, let's eat!"

"ITADAKIMA~SU!"

* * *

After a good and hearty lunch, we decided to walk around town for a while, to let the food digest in our stomachs. I'm surprised that Rinrin can take in a lot of food and not have a bad stomachache. It's like her stomach is a black hole or something.

"Nyaaaaaaaaaa~ that was good food!" Rinrin sighed in content.

"But you ate too much!" Aisha scolded a bit. "Plus, you made Gaim-sama spend almost all his money!"

"It's alright Aisha," I waved off, "Like I said before, it's my treat. I'll find a way to get back the money."

"Gaim–sama! Gaim–sama!" A soldier cried out, running over to us.

"Yes? What's the matter?" I asked.

"My patrol unit has discovered a Crack outside the city!"

"WHAT?!" My general and I asked shocked.

"Are any Inves coming out?!" I asked worriedly.

"Fortunately, no." The soldier said, "It just opened, and there's nothing happening as of now."

I gritted my teeth as I thought over the situation. It was both good and bad news. Bad news was that an Inves can get through and wreak havoc if left unchecked, but the good news was I can use it as a chance to explore Helheim Forest like I always wanted to do. Decisions, decisions…

"Make sure your unit guards the Crack. Let no one near it. I will enter it and try to find a way to close it from the inside," I ordered the soldier.

"Yes sir!" he obeyed and ran back to relay my orders.

"You're going to close it from the inside?" asked Aisha worried.

"Somewhat, but I can use this chance to explore Helheim Forest to obtain more Lockseeds," I answered. "Besides, I have my own way out even if the crack is closed."

"Are you sure Gaim–sama?" Shuri asked.

"Yes I'm sure." I nodded.

"Then let us come with you into the forest." Aisha said.

"What?!" I asked surprised.

"I said we're coming with you." Aisha repeated.

"Rinrin wants to go with Onii–chan!" Rinrin said.

"But–" I protested.

"Please let us follow you, Gaim–sama. We too want to see this Helheim Forest with our eyes," begged Shuri.

"But it's dangerous! Between Inves and Helheim Fruits, I don't know if I can protect you!" I argued.

"Don't worry, Onii–chan! Rinrin can protect herself!" said Rinrin as she thumped her chest proudly.

"Rinrin is right, Gaim–sama. We can protect ourselves, so you should be at ease," added Aisha.

"And you're not alone in this, Gaim–sama," finished Shuri.

I was silent for a moment, thinking of what to do. "Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked.

"Yes, we're sure." Aisha, Rinrin, and Shuri nodded.

I was silent again. Seeing as they were really determined to go, and that there was no point in arguing I sighed, before saying, "Alright… I'll let you come with me. Whatever you do, no matter what, I want you all to stay close to me." Their expression brightened considerably after hearing my decision.

"Thank you, Gaim–sama," said Aisha with a serious tone.

With that I had the soldier take me to the Crack and the five of us went on our way.

* * *

By the time we arrived just outside the city, the four of us and the soldier arrived at the Crack with four more soldiers guarding it to make sure no Inves come out of the Crack.

"This is it." The soldier said.

"Thank you," I said to the soldier. "Make sure that no one else besides me and my officers enter this Crack."

"Yes sir!" the soldier replied as he snapped a salute at me.

I then turned to my officers. All of them looked ready to go. Shuri looked nervous but she steeled herself for her decision to follow me to Helheim Forest.

"Alright, let's go. Remember to stay close to me," I said.

"Yes, Gaim–sama!" the girls chorused as one.

Nodding to them, I entered the Crack with the girls following behind me and we found ourselves inside the mysterious Helheim Forest.

When we entered in, the three girls were amazed by what they saw. However, this forest was anything but amazing. It didn't look incredibly intimidating, but it was enough to unsettle me a bit. Everything was covered in a light mist, but the trees were as strange as ever. Most of them were oddly straight trees wrapped in green vines with the large purple Lockseed flowers growing off of them. There were many other strange plants as well, like flowers that swirl and plants with vines that stretch out for miles around.

"Wow… it looks beautiful…" Aisha said in awe.

"Sugoi nano da~!" Rinrin said in awe too.

"Look at all this vegetation," Shuri said.

"Girls, this isn't time for sightseeing. Remember, anything can happen here, so be on guard." I reminded.

Of course, what I said couldn't be any truer when… the Crack is closing up on us?! OH COME ON! THIS ISN'T WHAT WE NEED!

"Ah! The Crack!" Aisha pointed out alarmingly.

"It's closing!" added Rinrin as she tried to catch the zipper's head, only to fail as the Crack closed and disappeared just like that.

"Hawawa! W–What do we do!?" Shuri panicked. "W–We're trapped!"

"Not exactly," I sighed as I took out my Sakura Hurricane Lockseed. "I can take us out, but only one by one with this, the Sakura Hurricane Lock Vehicle."

"How can it help us?" asked Shuri as she started to calm down.

"When the Sakura Hurricane reaches the right speed, it can open a Crack that will lead us back to our world and forth," I explained.

"Thank goodness," Shuri sighed in relieve.

"But until then we'll have a look around. You girls _do_ want to explore this place right?" I asked.

"Yes." The girls answered.

"Then let's go. And stay close me. After exploring, I'll have to show you something before we go back."

"Nya? Show us what Onii–chan?" Rinrin asked curiously.

"You'll see…" I said a bit serious. "Come on." I then walked forward into the mysterious Helheim Forest. The three girls looked at each other confused before they followed me.

* * *

We've been walking in the forest for quite a while and despite what this forest can really do, the girls were amazed. Heck even Shuri decided to some draw of the plants here. "Look at these plants, they're so weird and fascinating." Shuri admired.

"What are these purples flowers here?" Aisha asked.

"Rinrin doesn't know but… for some reason, they look tasty~" Rinrin said, drooling a bit as she… was going for a Lockseed Flower?!

"DON'T TOUCH IT!" I yelled.

"Nya!?" Rinrin squeaked in surprise.

"Rinrin, whatever you do, do not eat those flowers. Same goes to Aisha and Shuri," I warned them.

"Eeeh?! But why!?" whined Rinrin.

"Because if you eat it, you'll become an Inves," I answered gravely, and the girls' eyes widened.

"WHAT!?"

"H–Hawawa… become…" Shuri began.

"…an Inves?" Aisha asked shocked.

"Trust me when I say this, you _don't_ want to eat it. This is one of the main dangers of Helheim Forest. I wouldn't forgive myself if any of you girls ate a flower because if you did, you'd turn into an Inves and…" I looked away with a pained look. "…I'd have no choice but to kill you…" the three girls' eyes widened at that.

"Gaim–sama…" Aisha whispered.

"I don't want to have to resort to that…" I said scared as I started trembling. I really _was_ scared. Just the thought of seeing someone turn into an Inves is horrible. Seeing Hase from the show turn into one was bad enough. No one deserves that fate… and I mean NO ONE…

"Very well. We will stay away from those flowers," said Aisha with an assuring smile. "You can hold us to our words."

"Thanks, Aisha," I said, smiling in relief.

"Um, what's with those flowers, Gaim–sama?" asked Shuri.

"Those flowers are called Lockseed Flowers, or Helheim Fruits as some called them," I answered.

"Then… those flowers are the Immature Lockseeds you spoke of?" asked Aisha, her eyes widening in realization.

"They don't look like your Lockseeds, Onii–chan," Rinrin pointed out.

"It doesn't," I replied as I strapped my Sengoku Driver to my waist. I then plucked a random fruit and watched as it transformed into a Lockseed with colorful lights. The girls gasped as the fruit changed into a familiar item with the image of a sunflower seed and letters L.S. – 00 on it. This was the Himawari Lockseed. "Now it does."

"Amazing… so that's how Lockseeds are created," commented Shuri in amazement.

"Yep." I said before throwing it to Shuri which she caught. "Here."

"For me?" Shuri asked.

"Yep. Consider it a gift."

"Thank you, Gaim–sama!" beamed Shuri.

"I want one too!" begged Rinrin with a pout.

"I'm giving it to Shuri because she can't protect herself," I pointed out for Rinrin.

"I still want one too!" she demanded with a pout.

"Huh… fine…" I sighed before I picked out three Lockseed Flowers and the three transformed surprisingly in order to L.S. – 01 Mattsubokuri or Pinecone, L.S. – 02 Kurumi or Walnut, and L.S. – 03 Donguri or Acorn. That never happens in the show at all.

"Ohhh…" Rinrin said in awe.

"A Pinecone, Walnut, and Acorn Lockseed?" Aisha asked.

"Yep." I then turned to Rinrin saying, "Take your pick."

"Yay!" Rinrin cheered happily as she closely examined the Lockseeds in my hand. "Now let's see… Aha! Rinrin then picked the Donguri Lockseed, "I take the acorn!"

I chuckled and not resisting the urge to sing the Driver Call out loud. "Never Give Up!"

"What was that, Gaim–sama?" blinked Shuri in confusion.

"Oh, that was what the Sengoku Driver announces after transforming into Donguri Arms." I answered.

"Really?"

"Yep and you have a small hammer for a weapon."

"A hammer huh?"

"Wanna see?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah!" Rinrin said giving me her Lockseed.

"Okay, stand back." I said, taking it back while having Aisha hold the other Lockseeds. This is gonna be a bit weird having Gaim in Donguri Arms. Oh well. "Henshin!" I shouted and opened the Lockseed.

**DONGURI!**

Unlike in our world, a crack didn't open instead, brown energy gathered above me and formed the Donguri Arms. It looked like a giant, metallic acorn, with a small hole on the bottom for my head,

I secured the Lockseed to my Driver and sliced it immediately, no sense alerting the Inves around with the standby music. The core image showed the slice of an acorn while the lower part showed the image of a hammer with an acorn motif.

**LOCK ON! SOIYA!**

The Donguri Arms dropped to my shoulders as it formed my Pre–Arms suit before it disassembled to be my armor. The top split into two halves and lowered themselves, to become my tough looking shoulder armor as the front parts flipped out to become my chest armor with with bottom of acorn on it as the back parts flipped to become my back armor. My helmet attachment now looked like the top of an acorn without any other decorations, so it's plain enough for me.

**DONGURI ARMS! NEVER GIVE U~P!**

"Uooooooh!" Rinrin said in awe with sparkles in her eyes.

"And that hammer looks small and… underwhelming…" Shuri blinked.

I looked to it and… I have to admit, the Donkachi _is_ a bit underwhelming, and something only a kid can play around with. "You're right… but it still hurts to get hit with this, you know," I retorted. And boy did Jonouchi show it. "Anyway, let's continue before an Inves spots us. They are much stronger when fought in Helheim."

"Yes, Gaim–sama!" my officers replied as one.

We continued walking through Helheim Forest and the deeper we went, the more creepy and unsettling it got. We were really deep into Helheim Forest and every now and then we'd rest and I'd pick out some Lockseed Flowers, but they always end up as Himawari Lockseeds.

"Another Himawari Lockseed…" I sighed.

"Ne, ne, Onii-chan pick this dark one!" Rinrin said pointing to a Lockseed Flower. I went over to Rinrin and picked the Lockseed Flower.

"It's probably just another– Hello!" I said surprised as the Lockseed changed into one I've never seen before. It had the code L.S. – 15 and it had the cover of a blueberry! That's never happened in the show before!

"Is it a good one, Gaim–sama?" asked Aisha.

"It is. This one is an A–Ranked Lockseed, the highest ranked and strongest natural Lockseed," I answered as I examined the Lockseed closely. "I've never seen this one before, though."

"Really?" replied Aisha in surprise.

"Maybe…" Shuri seemed to be deep in thought about something before she turned to me. "I think we should pick darker flowers, Gaim–sama."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I think that darker flowers will produce stronger and higher ranking Lockseeds," she answered.

"Really? Are you sure?" I asked.

"It can't hurt to try." Shuri said.

"Gaim–sama, here's a dark one." Aisha said pointing to one not far. I went over to the Lockseed Flower that she pointed at and I picked it. When it transformed I was surprised to see another Lockseed I've never seen before! It had the code L.S. – 20 and the cover of the Lockseed was a Star Fruit.

"A Carambola Lockseed?" I grinned. "Nice choice Aisha!"

"Thank you, Gaim–sama," she smiled at my praise and… is that a blush I see on her cheeks?

"I wonder what this one does." asked Shuri as she peered at the Carambola Lockseed. I too shared her curiosity. This and the Blueberry Lockseed aren't shown in the show. Maybe this is the time to test them out?

"Ne, ne, let's find more, darker Lockseed Flowers! Maybe we can get some rarer ones!" Rinrin suggested.

"Yeah, we should! Who knows what we'll find!" Shuri smiled brightly.

Well I can't say no to that. "Alright girls, we'll look for more." I smiled.

"YAY!" Rinrin and Shuri cheered.

So with that, we continued walking through Helheim Forest looking for more dark Lockseed Flowers and boy when we did, we hit a treasure trove of them. We found about 13 more Lockseeds that were never in the show before they were the L.S. – 14 Plum Lockseed, L.S. – 16 Pear Lockseed, L.S. – 17 Raspberry Lockseed, L.S. – 18 Grapefruit Lockseed, L.S. – 19 Lime Lockseed, L.S. – 21 Coconut Lockseed, L.S. – 22 Breadfruit Lockseed, L.S. – 23 Pomegranate Lockseed, L.S. – 24 Apricot Lockseed, L.S. – 25 Cucumber Lockseed, L.S. – 26 Avocado Lockseed, L.S. – 27 Fig Lockseed, and L.S. – 28 Miracle Lockseed.

Man, wait until Koji and the Nogano brothers see what I have!

"Nya, ha! Look at all the Lockseeds we collected!" Rinrin said proudly.

"I never knew we would gather this many rare Lockseeds." Shuri said wiping her forehead as she puts the new ones in a bag.

"Yeah, me neither." I said, impressed at the collection we made. "Well, I don't know about you but–"

*RUSTLE! RUSTLE!*

"Who's there?!" Aisha suddenly shouted, having all of us go on alert. Just up ahead, there were some bushes rustling. The four of us were on guard as the bushes continued to rustle.

"I–Is it an Inves?" Shuri stuttered.

"I don't know…" Rinrin whimpered.

"Come out of there, whoever you are!" I shouted. The rustling stopped for a while and a moment later, a figure popped out from the bushes and it revealed to be… Chou'un?!

"Chou'un–san!?" me and the girls said, shocked to see her here. Now this is a real surprise. How did she end up in Helheim anyway?

"Oh, Kurogasa–dono. What a surprise, I didn't expect you all to be here in this forest," she answered, her expression hanged from surprised to pleasant.

"W–What are you doing here, Chou'un–san?" asked Shuri curiously, still reeling from shock.

"Well…" Chou'un said. "I just happened to find this forest. I was minding my own business roaming the country along with a mercenary I was traveling with and this zipper like portal just appeared from out of nowhere."

"That explains it." I deadpanned a bit as Chou'un walker closer to us. "How long have you been in this forest?"

"Not too long," Chou'un shrugged, before she got really close to me with a seductive look, "But at least I ran into you, Kurogasa–dono…"

"Uh…" I gulped. The sudden spike of killer intents from around me made me realize that the girls weren't happy. Better switch my tactic now before I get mauled! "I–It's because this forest is a really dangerous place!" I said hurriedly. "Between Inves and the Lockseed Flowers that tempt anyone to eat them, most people usually meet their demise when they wandered off here."

"True, but I'm not like most people," Chou'un smirked confidently. "Those beasts you call Inves simply left me alone and while the flowers looked tempting, it is nothing when compared to menma."

I blinked, not expecting her answer, "Menma?"

"That's right."

"Seriously? You have a thing for bamboo?" I deadpanned.

"Yes, why?"

"Never mind…"

"Say, Chou'un–san, you said you were traveling with a mercenary. Where is he?" Shuri asked.

"Huh?" Chou'un asked as she looked behind her. "Strange… I was sure he was following me…"

"Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…"

We looked to the source of the voice and there _was_ a mercenary. However, something was different about him. Wait a minute… oh no! His arm's been mutated into a claw! That means–! "He has eaten the Lockseed Flower!" I gasped in shock.

"But that means…!" Aisha also gasped, knowing what would happen.

"What is it? Is that flower poisonous?" asked Chou'un, looked a little lost.

"Anyone that eats the flower will be turned to an Inves!" said Shuri alarmingly and Chou'un's eyes widened in surprise.

"What did you say!?"

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" The mercenary roared out loud before the vines and leaves covered him entirely and the plant foliage dispersed to reveal the Bixie Inves, much to the girls' and my horror and Chou'un's surprise. It's body was the same as the Byakko Inves, but it's head was completely different, having the head of a lion–like creature.

"Stand back, everyone! I got this!" I said while mentally preparing to fight against an H–Category Inves. It was once human… but right now killing him would be merciful rather than leaving him like that.

"Gaim–sama… Are you sure about this?" asked Aisha hesitantly.

"There's no choice, Aisha…" I answered while trying to ease the sinking feeling on my stomach. "…Killing him now would be a mercy for him and releasing him from this torment."

"Gaim–sama…" Aisha said worried.

"Trust me, Aisha. I don't want to do this, but this is the only way." I said before I charged at the Bixie Inves with the Donkachi in hand and tried to whack it, but it was no use and did nothing. I really hate it when the Inves gets home field advantage. They're a lot stronger here in Helheim Forest than the real world. Probably twice as strong.

"Just go down already!" I yelled as I whacked its head with Donkachi several times. Each hit apparently got more effective as the Bixie Inves got reeled in pain slightly before I gripped Donkachi with both of my hand and twisted my body as I swung my mallet at it. "HAAAAH!"

My last strike hit the Inves and knocked it back several meters. It then recovered quickly and growled at me dangerously. Uh oh, I think I made it mad. Really mad.

The Bixie Inves roared and fired a fireball from its mouth. I rolled to the side to dodge it before I charged at it and hit it with the Donkachi. It did damage it somewhat, but also made it angrier at me. It then slashed my chest, causing sparks to fly from my armor. I grunted in pain, but held firm as I blocked its claw with my forearm and smashed its chest with Donkachi several times, causing it to stumble back before I smashed its face with all of my strength. The Inves was sent flying for several meters as the result of my attack.

"Aisha, throw me the Mattsubokuri Lockseed!" I shouted.

"The what?!" Aisha asked.

"The Pinecone Lockseed!"

"Oh, uh, right!" Aisha said before getting the said Lockseed and threw it at me, "Catch!" she said. The Lockseed was in the air for a while until I caught it.

"Thanks!" I said before turning back to the Inves and taking out my previous Lockseed.

**LOCK OFF**

I then opened up my new one.

**MATTSUBOKURI! **

Energy formed above me and materialized into a huge brown and black metallic pinecone. I then locked it in the Driver and wasted no time slicing it open with the Cutting Blade.

**LOCK ON!**

**SOIYA! MATTSUBOKURI ARMS! ICHIGEKI IN THE SHADOW!**

My Donguri Arms disappeared in motes of light as the Mattsubokuri Arms Armor landed on my shoulder and disassembled. The top and side parts split in two and lowered to become my shoulder armor which was stylized after a pinecone and the front part lowered to become my chest plate and the back parts flipped over to become my back armor. The armor flashed as a spear with a pinecone motif on the base of the blade appeared on my hand.

"Alright, let's see how you like this!" I yelled as I charged at the Bixie Inves. I couldn't help but feel the irony of battling the Bixie Inves in Mattsubokuri Arms. I swung the Kage Matsu around, letting the bladed tip, hit where it could, but that only did very little damage.

"C'mon Onii–chan, beat that thing!" Rinrin cheered on.

"Y–You can do it Gaim–sama!" Shuri added.

"Gaim–sama…" Aisha said worried.

Gah! It's obvious I'm not used to using a spear as my weapon and what am I thinking? Using a D–Ranked Lockseed to fight an Inves like the Bixie Inves in Helheim Forest… I must be out of my mind.

With that in thought I wildly stabbed the Bixie Inves with Kage Matsu several times, doing little damage to it before I twirled my weapon and swung Kage Matsu with all of my strength, knocking it back several meters. Seeing the chance, "Aisha! The Walnut Lockseed!"

If its armor is that hard, then I have to hit it with something that's _meant_ to break something hard.

"Here!" Aisha tossed the Kurumi Lockseed and I caught it with my hand. Without wasting more time, I unlocked the Lockseed in my hand.

**KURUMI!**

Orange and black energy gathered above me and formed the Kurumi Arms Armor, which was shaped like a giant metallic walnut. I removed the Mattsubokuri Lockseed from my Driver and replaced it with the Kurumi Lockseed.

**LOCK ON!**

I immediately sliced it open, revealing its core, shaped like the half of a walnut and the back lid showed the image of a boxing gloves shape based from a walnut.

**SOIYA!**

The Mattsubokuri Arms dissipated into motes of light as Kurumi Arms lowered to my shoulders. Like the other nut–based Arms, the side and top split in half and lowered to become my shoulder armor while the front part flipped out to become my chest plate. All of them were based from the walnut. The back parts flipped over to become my back armor as my helmet gained a new attachment. From the front, it looked like a gear and the motif on the back was similar to a walnut. My visor lit up yellow as a pair of giant boxing gloves appeared on my hand called the Kurumi Bombers.

**KURUMI ARMS! MISTER~ KNUCKLEMAN!**

"Alright!" I said as I banged my fists together. "It's clobberin' time!"

I charged towards the Bixie Inves and I punched it hard with the Knuckle Bombers and each time I did, projections of a walnut would appear and I'd see it being smashed to pieces along with the Bixie Inves being injured making sparks fly. The Inves staggered from the attack before it growled angrily and fired fireballs from its mouth. I dodged them by rolling to the side, before I shoulder tackled it and smashed my Kurumi Bomber to its face and chest. As it reeled from pain, I unleashed several brutal haymakers to its head. I was about to punch it in the face when it fired a fireball point blank.

"Gaaah!" I cried out in pain as I was hit directly.

"Gaim–sama/Onii–chan!" I heard the girls called out in worry.

The Bixie Inves struck me with its claws in the chest twice before one last slash knocked me back several meters. It then tried to attack me again, but I was ready for it.

I sliced my Lockseed once with my Cutting Blade Switch.

**SOIYA! KURUMI SQUASH!**

I immediately punched its chest with walnut aura covered Kurumi Bombers and sent it sprawling backwards. "Let's finish this!" I said before I managed to take off one of the Knuckle Bombers and took off the Kurumi Lockseed and replaced it with the Orange Lockseed.

**ORANGE!**

Energy formed above me and the metallic orange appeared as the Kurumi Arms disappeared. I wasted no time inserting the Lockseed and slicing it open.

**LOCK ON!**

**SOIYA! ORANGE ARMS! HANAMICHI ON STAGE!**

The Orange Arms dropped on my shoulders and unfolded to reveal myself in Orange Arms. I wasted no time attaching the ends of Daidaimaru and Musou Saber together to have it in Naginata Mode and after that I detached the Orange Lockseed from my Driver and inserted it in my Musou Saber.

**LOCK ON! 1! 10! 100! 1,000! 10,000!**

I looked at the Bixie Inves again who was reeling. "Please forgive me…" I muttered. "HAAAAAH!" I charged at the Inves as Musou Saber gave one last announcement.

**ORANGE CHARGE!**

The Daidaimaru end lit up with a blazing orange aura as I slashed the Inves twice with it, each slash created orange slice projection. Sparks flew from its body as the Bixie Inves gave a dying growl as it fell over and exploded. I panted slightly and turned to see its remains and I couldn't help but feeling guilty. I killed that mercenary because he turned into an Inves. I know it was supposed to be a mercy kill, but… I still feel guilty for killing him. I mean, it was just bad luck that he and Chou'un wandered to this damned forest. While his companion managed to resist the Helheim's Fruits allure, he wasn't so lucky. He ate one and turned into an Inves…

My armor vanished into motes of orange light as I fell to my knees in disbelief and shock. I'm still trying to let this all sink in but… I just can't believe it. I killed someone who turned to an Inves.

"Gaim–sama/Onii–chan!" The girls cried out as they ran over to me.

"Gaim–sama, are you alright?" Aisha asked worriedly as she knelt down to my level and held my shoulders, but I ignored her as I was still out of it. She then shook me lightly, "Gaim–sama! Gaim–sama!"

"I… I killed him…" I breathed out. "I know it would end his suffering… but…"

"You did the right thing, Gaim–sama," said Aisha. "If you didn't kill him, then he would end up like that forever, right?"

I could only nod listlessly at her word. I was supposed to help that person… but why do I still feel guilty like this?!

"You did what you can to help him, Gaim–sama," commented Chou'un with understanding look on her face. "You released him from that horrible fate of spending eternity as a mindless creature like that."

"…Yeah," I said as I stood up. I can't stay down like this for long. I still have to show the girls and Chou'un what I wanted to show them inside this blasted forest. "Come on. We need to move on before another Inves smell our Lockseeds."

"A–Are you sure you're okay?" Shuri asked.

"I… I'll manage somehow." I got out before I walked forward. "Come on, there's something I still need to show you."

With that I led the girls toward our destination.

* * *

I walked with the girls for a while after we managed to dodge several Inves on our way either by hiding or throwing Himawari Lockseeds I harvested to distract them. I really didn't want to fight them as I was still reeling from the fact that I killed a person. It wasn't like killing bandits because they chose to be one with their own conscience while that mercenary was merely because he entered this forest by accident. I wonder how many people wandered and lost themselves to this forest.

"Um, Gaim–sama?" Shuri spoke up. "Just how big this forest really is?"

"I wonder about that too. The more we explore it, the bigger it looks to be," commented Chou'un.

"We're almost there." I said.

"Almost where Gaim–sama?" Aisha asked.

I ignored the question as we kept on walking through the forest and after a few minutes of walking, I recognized the area I was in and I knew where to go. We kept on walking as I led to them to the place that I needed to show them and after a while, we stopped at the entrance of what I'm about to show them that was covered by the trees. "We're here." I said as we all stopped.

"Here where Onii–chan?" Rinrin asked.

"The thing I'm about to show you." I said as I turned around, having a really serious look. "Beyond these trees is something unlike anything you've ever seen. You'll never look at the world the same again. After I show you this, never and I mean _NEVER_, tell a single soul to _ANYONE_. Is that clear?"

The girls looked confused with my statement but nodded in response nevertheless. I sighed as I steeled myself for the inevitable reveal. They have the right to know about this: The truth about Helheim Forest and everything behind it.

I walked past the trees with them following behind. I stopped several steps from the entrance as I heard the girls gasped sharply behind me.

"This…" I said as I motioned the view before us with my hand. "…is the truth of Helheim Forest."

Just below the cliff were the Ancient Ruins of a civilization that once ruled Helheim. The ruined city was… well obviously in ruins. There were many buildings that were destroyed, there were some that look like they were about to fall. And most of the buildings around the area were covered in vines that were infested with Lockseed Fruits. To sum it all up, seeing these ruins reminds me of the ruined city of Zanarkand from Final Fantasy X.

"G–Gaim-sama…! T–This is…!" Aisha started, obviously shaken after seeing the Helheim Ruins.

"A–A civilization…!? Here…!?" gasped Shuri while Rinrin was stunned into silence.

"…Or whatever was left of it," finished Chou'un with grim expression. She then turned to me as she added, "Is this what you wanted to show us, Gaim-sama?"

"Yeah," I answered, all the while focusing on the Helheim Ruins. Seeing it with my own eyes felt completely different compared to seeing it from TV. It feels… I don't even know how to describe what I'm feeling right now.

"W–What happened here?" questioned Shuri with morbid curiosity.

"As you can see here, a civilization once thrived here in this dimension. However… for some reason this civilization was brought to extinction thanks to Helheim Forest itself."

"Hawawa?!" Shuri asked shocked. "Y–You're saying…"

"Yes… Helheim Forest itself is literally alive."

"Impossible! You're saying this forest is alive!?" Chou'un blurted out in shock.

"It's true. Helheim Forest is sentient to an extent and it will reach for a new world once it finished invading one world."

"B–But why? Why would this forest invade one world after another?" asked Aisha.

"I don't know, but a scholar had his own theory about Helheim Forest," I recalled what Ryouma Sengoku had hypothesized about Helheim Forest in episode 25 with my own theory. "Helheim Forest actually promotes evolution of the inhabitants of the world it invaded. It granted them power to transcend their boundaries to those it deemed worthy. But… the people of this world became drunk with the power they gained and turned against each other. They warred and ended up destroying their world. That's what's left of their civilization."

"Sonna…" Aisha gasped.

"N–No way…" Rinrin said.

"I know. And it's all thanks to that Forbidden Fruit…"

"Forbidden Fruit?" echoed Shuri.

I nodded as I continued on. "Somewhere in this forest, there's a golden fruit that's said to grant the power of a god to anyone who obtained it. Also, whoever gets that fruit can change the world as that person saw fit."

"The power of a god…?" muttered Chou'un with wide eyes.

"To change the world as they see fit?" Aisha questioned, also looked surprised by my claim.

"Very tempting isn't it." I said. "And I'm not claiming it any time soon."

"You're not?" Chou'un asked.

"No. Why would I want the power of God to begin with? It's not something to trifle with anyway. And I'm only a mere human. As someone once said, "Those who try to play God must pay a hefty price. That is truth."" I quoted, which by the way was from Father in an episode of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.

"Gaim–sama…" Aisha murmured.

"Remember this sight well. Let it serve as a reminder that we must not become like this civilization. That obtaining the power of a god is something that you must never do." I instructed.

Aisha and the others stared at the Ruins for a moment before they turned to me with determined expressions.

"If obtaining the power of a god will make our world be like this in the future then I too refuse to obtain it. It is simply not worth it," said Aisha.

"Besides, where's the fun in being a god? Rinrin is already happy with who she is now," Rinrin grinned at me.

"I have read about a saying in my book, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." I guess this is also the same, right Gaim–sama?" questioned Shuri.

"You are certainly a strange man, Gaim–sama. You know about this Forbidden Fruit and what it does, yet you decided not to take it for yourself," chuckled Chou'un. "But perhaps, you are right. To obtain the power of a god is a foolish thing to do as a human and also admitting that you are too weak to improve yourself."

"Thank you… all of you…" I sighed in relief. "Alright, let's head back to Xizang for now. We already got our Lockseeds and we can't stay here too long lest the Inves will find us.

"But how are we going to get out of this place?" asked Chou'un.

Chou'un brought a good point. Even if I have my Sakura Hurricane with me, I can only bring one person with at one time and I don't like leaving anyone here without me even for a few minutes. "Good question…" I said pondering on it. "Unless a random Crack appears out of nowhere, I don't see how we can get out. I could use the Sakura Hurricane to get you out, but I don't wanna leave you all while taking you all out of here one at a time."

"Then what should we do, Gaim–sama?" asked Aisha.

"Hmm…" I hummed as I pondered the situation we currently in. Wait, Kaitou in the series found the Dandeliner Lockseed as a Lockseed Flower, right? So that means I can pluck a Lockseed Flower and it will mature as a Lockseed! But which one will end up as a Lock Vehicle Lockseed?

Oh screw it! I'm going for one! I found a vine of Lockseed fruits and plucked one out and when it matured, it turned into… the Dandeliner Lockseed! YES!

"Alright, now we can get out of here!" I cheered.

"Have you found something, Gaim–sama?" asked Shuri.

"I sure have," I grinned as I showed them the Dandeliner Lockseed. "With this, we can get out of this forest."

"Really? What can this one do?" inquired my strategist further.

"Observe." I smirked as I opened up the Dandeliner Lockseed and it opened up to reveal that it transformed into a hover bike like-machine.

"Whoa…" the girls said in awe.

"Impressive right?" I smirked as I opened up the Sakura Hurricane and had in Bike Mode. "Chou'un, you, Rinrin, and Shuri ride on the Dandeliner. Aisha and I will be on the Sakura Hurricane. Don't worry, the Dandeliner is easy to drive."

"Are you sure?" Chou'un asked.

"I'm sure. Just follow my lead on how I drive and you'll be fine." I said.

"Very well then." Chou'un said before getting on the Dandeliner with Rinrin and Shuri climbing on it from behind her. Meanwhile, I got on the Sakura Hurricane with Aisha sitting behind me having her arms wrapped tightly around my waist.

Also, a certain anatomy of hers was pressed against my back… Oh man, they're so big! Ack! What am I thinking!?

I tried to force down my blush as I asked to Aisha, "Are you ready, Aisha?"

"Yes."

Hearing her answer, I started the engine and the loud noise must've startled Aisha because she squealed in surprise and hugged me tighter. And pushing her assets further against my back. It's not only big, but also really soft too… No! Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts! Dang it, me and my bad luck…

"A–Alright, let's go!" I said before I revved up the engine, pushing the pedal with my foot and sped off with Aisha along the way. Chou'un followed my actions and sped off too, following me while hovered in the air.

"WOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Rinrin cheered.

"I–It can fly!?" I heard Shuri gasp in surprise. You better believe it, Shuri. If this surprises you then wait until you see the Tuliphopper.

I gunned the engine as fast as I can, intending to reach the necessary speed to open the Crack to our world. I glanced briefly at the speedometer. Almost there! I pushed Sakura Hurricane to be faster, and that's when I saw cherry blossom petals fluttering around my vehicle.

I know what that mean. The Crack is about to open anytime now.

"What is this?" I heard Chou'un ask and I spared a brief glance at her.

The Dandeliner she was riding with Shuri and Rinrin was surrounded with yellow dandelion fluffs. Huh... so that's what Dandeliner's Crack opening sequence looked like.

A Crack then opened ahead of us and instead of a single zipper, it formed by five zippers opening together and arranged to look like a flower. Revving the engine one more time, the Sakura Hurricane jumped and spun as it entered the Crack.

"HANG OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!" I shouted as we all spun around and entered the Crack.

* * *

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOA!" We all shouted as the Cracks opened up back to our world, to the outskirts of Xizang before we somehow managed to stop, but the momentum was too hard and we were sent flying before we all fell to the ground. I was on the bottom followed by Aisha, Rinrin, and Chou'un to fall on me and finally Shuri sitting on top of them.

"Owww…" I groaned at the bottom of the pile. "Definitely need to work on the landing…"

"Is everyone alright?" Aisha asked.

"I'm alright," answered Chou'un.

"Owie… Rinrin is okay too, I think," answered Rinrin.

"I'm fine," finished Shuri,

"Uh, girls?" I called. "Can you get off please?"

"Huh?" They all asked, before noticing. "Oh sorry!" They said before they got off and up and I stood up too, dusting myself off.

"Phew… that was something." I said.

"Y–Yes…" Shuri agreed.

"Hey look, we're back home!" Rinrin said pointing to Xizang.

"Gaim–sama! Gaim–sama!" We heard a few voices shout, as we saw some of our soldiers running towards us in the distance.

"They must've been looking for us." I said.

"But not me." Chou'un said. "I'm going to take my leave."

"Eh~? You're leaving already?" Rinrin pouted.

"That is right. I'm still on the middle of my journey if you recall," answered Chou'un before she looked at me as a smile graced her face. "…Although it seems that I'm nearing the end of my journey now,"

I stared at her before I smiled back and said, "Well, the offer still stand, Chou'un–san. You can join now if you want to."

"Perhaps, but I get the feeling that I will have to join later when the time is right," she replied.

"When the time is right, huh?" I mused as I chuckled a little. "Well, I'll be looking forward to that."

Chou'un smirked… and somehow I felt like trouble was coming as she approached me. "Then I too will be looking forward to it…"

She gets close, as in real close before…

*CHU!*

…She kissed me on the cheek.

"…Ku. Ro. Ga. Sa. Sa. Ma…" Chou'un whispered the syllables of my name in my ear before she turned and walked away.

…Did that really happen to me?

"…What's the meaning of this, Gaim–sama?"

I turned around to see my Generals and Strategist and they didn't look happy. Aisha obviously looked like she was about to maul me, Rinrin pouted, and Shuri looked like she was about to cry. "Uh…" I gulped.

"Gaim–sama~?" Aisha growled.

"Um… it's… not what you think?"

*POP!*

…Crap… wrong answer…

**"THEN BY ALL MEANS, PLEASE EXPLAIN IT TO US!"**

* * *

And there you have it people! Another chapter of Kamen Rider Gaim: Romance of the Three Kingdoms! Plus, Kurogasa managed to harvest some very new Lockseeds that weren't shown in the TV show before! Now I know what you're thinking. You're thinking he's gonna keep those new Lockseeds all to himself. Well I'm telling ya, that's not gonna happen. I got something planned for those new Lockseeds, so don't worry. Two of them you already know: the Blueberry and Carambola Lockseeds. I've gotten permission from Kamen Rider Chrome to use those Lockseeds, so it's okay. Anyways, stay tuned for the next chapter. Who knows, we might see the new Lockseeds in action next chapter or two!


End file.
